


Wanted

by alwayslouxo



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Captive, Crime, Drug Dealing, Friendship, Gangs, Gen, Guns, Kidnapped Louis, Other, Prison Escape, Stockholm Syndrome, hostage, onedirection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-05-04 00:26:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 55,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14580933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alwayslouxo/pseuds/alwayslouxo
Summary: Louis Tomlinson, 1/5th of One Direction finds himself in trouble when he is taken hostage by a wanted criminal who has escaped prison and is on the run from the law.





	1. ONE

Louis opened his eyes and looked around realising it wasn't morning yet. Checking the time, he noticed that it was just three in the morning. He groaned and tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't so he got out and went to get something to eat. Niall always told him that food is the best thing to root for when you can't sleep.

He rubbed his eyes, sleepily, before making his way towards the kitchen. Louis didn't even bother to switch the light on as he entered the kitchen and opened the refrigerator as the light from it lit up the relatively dark room. He sighed, realising he had run out of supplies and slammed the door shut.

"Holy shit!" Louis heard an unfamiliar, male voice, making him jump as he heard shuffling in the living room before the light was switched on.

The Doncaster boy felt fear rise in him upon seeing an intruder in his house. Not just an intruder, but a potential criminal going by the fact that he was still in the jail outfit. But what made Louis freeze in his spot was the black metal the man held in his hand with the barrel pointed straight towards him.

"Morning." The man said. "I thought no one was home."

"W-Who are you?" Louis managed to ask him, receiving a chuckle in response.

"My name's Aaron. Aaron Stone. That's all you need to know." The man replied, his finger still on the trigger while the gun didn't shift its aim. "Now I'd really appreciate it if you cooperate with me. C'mon!" He said, motioning Louis to come to the living room.

Louis felt too scared to even move. The man gave him a stern look and that was enough to make Louis walk towards him with his hands raised up in surrender. He realised it was too cold in the living room and wished he had slept with some clothes on, instead of just a pair of boxers.

"Kneel down over there." The man ordered, nodding towards the coffee table.

"What do you want?" Louis asked, not moving an inch from his place.

Aaron let out an annoyed sigh and within a second, Louis felt a tug at his arm before he was forced to his knees beside the coffee table. He would've protested against this if it weren't for the cold metal digging against his forehead. He heard the sound of metal clinking and looked up to see Aaron remove a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. Louis tensed up and struggled against Aaron's grip but the criminal was successful in restraining Louis' hands to the bar on the coffee table before locking them with a key.

"That's better. Now, where is your room? I need clothes to change. I've been wearing the same colour for years." Aaron told him, putting the keys to the handcuffs in his pocket.

"The third door next to the kitchen." Louis replied, fear clearly dripping out of his mouth with every word.

He sighed in relief once Aaron removed the gun and tucked it in his belt before disappearing down the hall and into Louis' room. Louis pulled at the cuffs and huffed, realising he wasn't going to get out of them until Aaron unlocks them. He looked around the room and his jaw almost dropped open when his eyes fell on the previous day's newspaper.

_International criminal Aaron Stone escapes high security prison._

Louis' mind raced with fear just by the thought of being trapped in his own house with a dangerous criminal. He mentally cursed himself for not reading the news everyday, despite Liam advising him to. How did he even get inside? Aren't there guards outside? Who was he kidding? The man had escaped prison so breaking into a random celebrity's house must not have been a great task for him.

Louis wanted to scream and shout in order to alert the security outside but he was scared. Aaron would kill him if he tried to. To him, Louis was just another person, he must've killed many people before and Louis didn't want to die today. He turned towards the couch and, momentarily, caught a glimpse of his phone. Hope sprang up inside Louis as he shifted himself and stretched his legs to reach it but a hand picked it up, instead.

"Nuh-uh, mister. No smart moves!" Aaron said, removing the phone's battery before putting in the pocket of jeans he was wearing. Louis noticed Aaron was wearing his favourite Adidas jumper.

Aaron looked around and saw a blue tracksuit lying on the couch. The one Louis was wearing before undressing and going to bed. He picked up the pant and started checking the pockets before doing the same to the pullover. Finally, he had ended up with a pair of earphones, keys to the car and Louis' wallet. He tossed the earphones on the couch and opened the wallet.

"Louis William Tomlinson." Aaron read out from Louis' passport. "Nice name, mate."

Louis chose not to reply, instead looked away from him while Aaron only shrugged.

"Your girlfriend?" He asked, showing the photo in his hand. It was Eleanor. Louis nodded in reply. "She's beautiful."

Louis saw him crouch down and unlock the cuffs. He decided not to do anything since the gun was back in Aaron's hands. The criminal shoved the two-piece tracksuit towards Louis, asking him to put it on while he obliged. Louis saw Aaron go back to his room before returning with two pairs of Converse in his hands by the time he was done putting on the clothes. Aaron waited with the gun pointed at Louis while he put on the shoes he was given.

"Now, sit on the couch and don't try anything if you love your lush life." He said, making Louis wonder if the guy knew he was famous. "That's right. I know you're famous. I saw the CDs and awards in your room." Aaron said, slipping on the shoes with a little difficulty since his size was obviously larger than Louis'.

Once he was done, Louis saw him pick up his wallet again and remove his driver's license and passport along with his credit card, shoving them into his pocket.

"Why do you need those?" Louis asked.

"We'll need them for the ride you're about to take me on!" Aaron replied.

"What?" Louis exclaimed.

"Yes." Aaron said, pointing the gun at Louis and pulling him to his feet. "Since there is security outside and I need to get out of here, you will tell them that I'm your friend and we're just going out to spend some time as friends. Okay?"

"Why are you doing this?" Louis asked as he was being pulled towards the front door.

"Okay, look, I hate to do this as much as you do but now you're stuck so cooperate. Otherwise, I won't hesitate to blow your head off. Now, c'mon!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment and leave kudos if you like it!


	2. TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I had posted this chapter earlier but something went wrong and it got deleted. So, I typed it again.

Louis sighed in disappointment as he drove down the London roads. He wouldn't even have been here if it wasn't for the absconding criminal lying in his backseat with a gun that was held against Louis' side. He was too tempted to pull over by one of the policemen he had crossed earlier and tell him his situation but he couldn't. And he hated himself for complying so easily and helping a criminal escape the city.

"Pull over." Aaron said as soon as they reached the city outskirts, making Louis give him a confused look.

"Why?" Louis asked but stopped the car, anyway, by a nearby tree.

He almost jumped when Aaron slammed the car door shut after getting out and opened the driver's door, pulling Louis out. He looked around and cursed his bad luck since the road was empty and silent except for a couple of cars, which sped past them within seconds. Of course, no one would expect to spot someone like Louis Tomlinson on a stranded road, this early in the morning. His thoughts were interrupted when his body was pushed against the car.

"Ouch!" Louis exclaimed as Aaron roughly pulled his wrists behind his back and cuffed them together.

Once Aaron was sure Louis' hands were secured, he grabbed his arm and forced him towards the passenger side, pushing him into the seat before buckling the seatbelt. Louis watched in annoyance as Aaron made his way to the driver's seat.

"This isn't necessary, you know?" Louis said, motioning to the seatbelt. "I won't escape."

"I know you won't escape." Aaron replied, placing the gun in his lap. "But I'm not a very decent driver."

Louis decided to look out of the window as the car started. He just wanted to close his eyes to wake up in his bed and realise it was all a dream. But sadly for him, it wasn't. This was some real shit and he had actually been kidnapped by a criminal who was running from the law.

"What's the name of that band you're in?" He heard Aaron ask, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"One Direction." Louis replied without looking at him.

"Cool name." He commented.

"What are you going to do to me?" Louis couldn't help but ask after a few seconds of silence.

"Use you as a shield from being arrested." Aaron answered, vaguely, making Louis wonder what he meant.

 

* * *

 

"Where is Louis?" Niall asked, impatiently, as the four of them had been waiting for their bandmate since almost three hours.

Zayn simply shrugged while Harry was pacing around and Liam was biting his nails, mindlessly.

"Don't worry, guys. He must have overslept! You know Lou." Zayn said, trying to calm his friends but deep down, even he was worried. Louis isn't, usually, late. At least, not by three hours.

"Li, why don't you call him once?" Niall suggested.

"I did. Ten times, already! His phone is off!" Liam exclaimed, but tried to call again only to end up with the same conclusion.

"I'm starting to get worried, now." Harry piped in.

"Well, maybe we shou--" Niall was cut off when Paul entered the studio.

"Louis isn't home. He's taken a day to go out with a friend." Paul told them. "We should, probably, start recording. He'll record his solos later."

"What?" Liam exclaimed. "What friend? He didn't tell us anything! And why the hell did he switch his phone off?"

"Liam, it's okay. Let him take a break." Zayn said as they started following Paul into the recording booth.

"You really buy that story?" Liam asked Niall, who shrugged in response.

"I don't know." Niall mumbled.

"He would have told us something!" Liam said.

 

* * *

 

"We're here." Louis heard Aaron's voice and opened his eyes. His hand, instinctively, went to rub them but he realised they were restrained. He had fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of the drive and was disappointed with himself for that. Now, he didn't know where he was because he wasn't awake to keep track of the path Aaron took. At least, he hopes he is still somewhere near London. He groaned, arching his neck back as it ached due to his uncomfortable position. He saw Aaron get down and walk towards his side before opening the door and unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Good morning, Tomlinson." He greeted, pulling Louis out of the car.

Louis remained silent and looked around, realising it was some kind of a huge warehouse where almost a hundred people seemed to be working. He felt Aaron grab his arm again and lead him inside. But Louis tried to struggle against his grip because he had a bad feeling about this place. It didn't seem nice to him and he wanted to stay as far away as he could. The place reeked of smoke and drugs and the vibes sent shivers down his spine.

"Stop trying to get away because you won't be able to." Aaron said, gripping his arm tighter but that only made Louis resist more. "What is wrong with you?"

"I don't want to be here! Please take me somewhere, anywhere else! This is not a nice place." Louis said, looking around in fear and disgust.

"Nothing will happen to you. I know you're scared and you're right. This is a bad place but I have some work to do and I can't leave you alone in the car. People here are too dangerous for you to be alone so stick with me and you'll be fine. We'll get out of here as soon as we can." Aaron reassured him but his words didn't help Louis much.

He still didn't want to be here and just wanted to sock Aaron in the face and run away but he couldn't do anything so he just let Aaron take him inside. He was too scared to move further but Aaron was strong enough to pull him along and Louis didn't have to put in much effort in his steps. They made their way past people who were, probably, drug dealers and criminals while they looked back with dark and malicious eyes. Louis hated this place so much that he thought he was almost close to throwing up. After a few minutes, the two finally reached a door that had a number on it which Louis didn't even bother to look at.

Aaron turned to look at his hostage and noticed how pale and scared his face was. He shifted his hand up to Louis' shoulder and made him turn to him.

"Alright, the guy inside is my boss. And he can be a total hot-head sometimes so try to remain as calm as you can in front of him, if you don't want him to kill you." Aaron said but, soon enough, realised he had managed to scare him more.

"I want to go home." Louis whispered in a shaky voice.

"Louis, I'm sorry I dragged you into this whole thing. But don't be scared, okay? I promise I won't let anything happen to you and I'll try my best to ensure that. I want to go home, too. Just cooperate. Please?"

Louis' breathing became heavy and he felt panicked but nodded, anyway. Aaron sighed before knocking on the door and a few seconds later, it flung open, revealing a middle-aged man who was dressed up in a suit with a cigar between his lips. He smiled as soon as his eyes fell on Aaron and Louis felt fortunate that the man hadn't seen him yet.

"Aaron!" He exclaimed, pulling the younger male in for a hug before patting his back. "I knew you'd make it out!"

Louis felt his heart beat faster as the man's gaze shifted to him and a small smile formed on his lips.

"Looks like you've got a friend here." The man said, turning back to Aaron.

"Not exactly a friend, more like a companion. I broke into his house thinking no one was home but I was wrong. So, I had to bring him with me." Aaron replied, taking Louis' arm again and leading him into the room before closing the door.

He waited for his boss to take a seat in his chair and then, made Louis sit on the couch while he sat down beside the pale boy.

"His face looks familiar, somehow." The man said as he eyed Louis in confusion and suspicion while Aaron sighed before answering.

"He's a singer in a band. What's the name again?" Aaron asked, turning to Louis.

"One Direction." Louis answered.

"What?" The man exclaimed, standing up from his chair. "He's Louis Tomlinson? Are you out of your mind, Aaron?"

Louis tensed up and shifted closer to Aaron as he saw the man approach him in anger with a hand in his coat pocket. Before he knew it, the man had a grip on Louis' collar with a gun pressed against his forehead. Aaron watched as the colour completely drained from Louis' face and he was slightly shivering with fear. He didn't think anything and the next think he knew, he had his gun aimed at his boss.

"What are you doing, Aaron? Put the gun down!" The boss said, pressing the gun harder against Louis while he just whimpered with his wide and scared blue eyes trained on Aaron.

"You put the gun down, Dave. I won't let you hurt him." Aaron reasoned, trying to keep his voice calm but threatening.

"He's fucking famous! They'll come looking for him and my whole business is going to go down, Aaron!" Dave said.

"It won't." Aaron said.

"He has already seen enough and he'll tell the cops when they get him!" Dave snapped, removing the safety off the gun which made Louis shut his eyes tight.

"No! He won't tell anything. I'll make sure. Now, put your gun down, Dave!" Aaron said. "Killing him won't do you good, either."

Dave glared down at Louis before sighing and removing the gun while relief washed over the other two.

"I'm trusting you on this one, Aaron. Don't disappoint me." Aaron nodded as his boss reoccupied his seat. 

"Where's the bathroom?" Aaron asked, pulling out the keys to the handcuffs and releasing a heavily breathing Louis' hands before pulling him to where Dave motioned and Louis was on the floor, throwing up whatever he had had last night as soon as they reached the bathroom.

"Are you alright?" Aaron asked, rubbing Louis' back to calm him down.

"I-I want to g-go home." Louis said again with tears in his eyes.

 


	3. THREE

Louis sat in silence as Aaron and Dave discussed matters that didn't concern him. Neither did he want to listen to any of that. All he could think about was if he'd ever make it out of this. His mind kept hovering over his mother, his sisters, his bandmates. Were they looking for him? Did they even know he was kidnapped? Or were they thinking he was out, enjoying with his so-called  _friend_?He sighed, resting his back on his bound hands against the couch.

"Dave? What about Sharon? She's . . safe. Right?" He heard Aaron ask and for a split second thought he caught a glimpse of fear on his captor's face.

 _Who's Sharon?_ Louis thought but brushed it off since he knew he won't be answered.

"She is. You can go see her once you're done with your job." Dave answered and Aaron sighed.

"Where is she?" He asked.

"At my sister's home. Back in London." Dave said and Louis couldn't help but notice the last three words.

 _Back in London?_ That means he wasn't in London anymore and that fact scared him. Where was he?

"What about him?" Dave asked, nodding towards Louis. "His friends and family. Do they know he's gone?"

"Probably not. Because he was the one who got me out." Aaron replied, looking at the boy sitting beside him who had started feeling uncomfortable because both pairs of eyes in the room were on him now. "But it won't be long before they find out."

"Call someone he knows. Let them know he is with us and tell them that they'll get him back only if the cops agree to release you forever." Dave ordered as Aaron nodded.

"No, don't! Please." Louis requested.

"Shut up!" Dave growled, making him go silent while Aaron just chose to ignore him as he pulled out Louis' phone and battery.

Louis watched, anxiously, as Aaron put the battery in and switched his phone on. He was annoyed by the fact that his phone was in someone else's hand and to top it all off, a criminal was scrolling through his contacts.

"Who's Liam Payne?" Aaron asked without looking up from the phone. 

"My b-bandmate." Louis replied, creasing his eyebrows wondering why he asked.

"Looks like he's really worried about you. He has called twenty times and texted a lot more since six in the morning!" Aaron said turning to Louis again and showing him the logs.

All Louis wanted to do was grab the phone from his hands and call Liam. But he couldn't. At least, not with his hands cuffed behind his back. Aaron looked at Dave as if asking him what to do next.

"Call Liam. As far as I've known, he's the wisest one in that boyband. He won't take any stupid decisions." Dave said.

Before anyone could do anything, Louis heard his phone ring and turned to look at Aaron, who smiled holding the phone up so Louis could see the name flashing on the screen. It was Liam.

"Watch your words, Louis. You have a pretty face and we'd hate to change that." Dave threatened, approaching Louis and pointing his gun at him while answering the phone and putting it on speaker.

"Louis? Where the hell are you? And why the fuck did you switch your phone off?" Liam demanded from the other end.

Louis, nervously, looked up at Aaron who motioned for him to talk.

"Louis? Are you even there?" Liam asked again.

"Liam?" Louis managed to say, despite the fear running inside him.

"Louis, where are you? And who is this friend you've gone out with?" Liam asked again, making Aaron groan.

"Ask him to stop asking so many questions!" Aaron muttered from his seat.

"Louis, answer me! Wha--"

"I'm f-fine, Liam." Louis answered.

"Talk loudly! What is wrong with your voice?" Liam asked.

"I'm fine." Louis told him, sounding almost normal.

"Where are you?" Liam asked again.

Louis looked up at Aaron. He didn't even know where he was.

"Tell him." Aaron ordered and Louis swallowed, thickly, out of fear.

"Liam, I-I was . .  didn't come out with . . h-he kidnapped me, Li." Louis stuttered, making no sense in his words but he knew Liam would understand.

"What are you talking? Kidnapped? Where are you? By who?" Liam asked, frantically.

"I-I don't kn-know where I am. His name is--" Louis said but Aaron stopped him, clamping his hand on Louis' mouth, silencing him.

"Don't try to act smart!" Dave said, nudging the gun against Louis' head.

"Louis? Are you alright? Lou, talk to me!" Liam's voice blared from the phone.

"He's too scared to talk right now, Liam. But don't worry, I'll convey his message." Aaron said, putting the phone to his ear before removing his hand from Louis' mouth.

"What do you want? Who are you? Let Louis go." Liam demanded.

"You ask way too many questions, Liam. Now, listen carefully. I have Louis here with me and he won't be leaving until the cops agree to stop coming after Aaron Stone. Remember the name." Aaron told him.

"I-I want to know Louis is alright. you didn't h-hurt him, did you?" Liam asked, now feeling fear and concern take over him.

"No. He's totally fine. Believe me, that's the most generous thing I've done in years!" Aaron said, chuckling.

"Let me talk to him." Liam said.

"I'm sorry but that's not happening. Now, go do as I say or he's going to be my guest, permanently." Aaron said before hanging up.

 He looked at Louis who seemed seconds away from crying already as Dave retrieved the gun from his head while he removed the battery again so the phone couldn't be tracked. 

"Dave? I'll need a fake passport for myself as soon as possible. Can you arrange that?" Aaron asked, pulling Louis up from the couch.

"Of course. It'll be ready by evening." Dave told him. "But wouldn't he need one too?" 

"No. I brought his passport along. For once, my brain was working right." 

"What about money?" Dave asked.

"We've got his credit card. That should be more than enough."

"You really thought this through, didn't you." Dave said before leaving to go complete the task.

Aaron thanked him and led Louis towards another room that had a queen-size bed and forced him to sit down on it.

"Please let me go. Why are you doing this?" Louis asked and Aaron's angry eyes seemed to soften a bit. "Why do you need a passport?"

"We're going to California." Aaron replied.

"No! Why? I don't want to go." Louis said.

"I have some work there and I don't think leaving you here would be a nice idea." Aaron said and Louis remained silent. "You should, probably, get some sleep. Now, lie down. We'll leave at 7."

Aaron started to leave but Louis just sat still.

"What happened?" Aaron asked him.

"My hands. T-They hurt behind my back." He answered.

Aaron sighed, pulling out the keys and uncuffing his hands before restraining his left wrist to the bed post.

"Better?" Aaron asked and Louis nodded before lying down and curling up like a small boy, closing his eyes. Aaron pulled the duvet over him and left, locking the door behind him.

 

* * *

 

"Liam? What's wrong?" Zayn asked as Liam returned from the balcony looking pale and scared.

Liam didn't know what to say as he made his way over to the couch beside Niall while Zayn and Harry approached him.

"Liam, what happened?" Harry asked and Liam looked at them with a panic-stricken face.

"Louis. I c-called him. He w-was kidnapped by . . we need to tell the cops!" Liam said, hurriedly.

"Liam, calm down and tell us what happened, exactly." Niall said.

"Call Paul! Tell him! Louis didn't go with a friend! He got kidnapped! He's, probably, not even in London now!"

 

* * *

 

"Mr. Payne? Tell us what he told you." Colton Dawson, the inspector in-charge asked Liam once he and Paul had gone to the police station.

"He said he had Louis and that he wouldn't let him go till you people stopped going after someone named Aaron Stone." Liam replied. 

Paul saw Dawson stiffen at the mention of the name.

"Are you sure he has Louis Tomlinson, Mr. Payne?" He asked and Liam nodded in response.

"Yes. I'm sure. I spoke to him." Liam told Mr. Dawson.

"And what did he tell you?" The officer asked.

"He didn't talk much. He sounded a bit scared." Liam answered.

Dawson tapped his fingers on the table, thinking why he had chosen Louis for this.

"Mr. Dawson? Who is Aaron Stone?" Paul asked, making the officer turn to him.

"He escaped prison yesterday. He had been arrested for multiple brutal murders around six to seven years ago."

Liam's face turned paler at his words.

"Then, do something to save him!" Liam yelled.

"We will, Mr. Payne. But it will take some time to track him down. I'm afraid to say but Mr. Tomlinson seems to be in bad hands if he is anywhere near the criminal. How did you say he was taken again? Wasn't he guarded with security?" Colton asked the two of them. Liam remained silent while Paul chose to answer.

"He left the house at around half past four in the morning, is what the security said. They suggested one of them go with him but Louis, supposedly, declined." Paul told him.

"There is a possibility he must've been kidnapped while out alone. Why did he leave so early?" Colton questioned.

"He wasn't alone. He left with a friend." Paul added.

"Who was this friend?" Dawson enquired while the other two shrugged.

"He didn't tell that. Although, the guards said they don't remember anyone entering the house before." Paul said.

"Then, I think I know who the friend is?" Colton said.

"Who?" Liam asked.

"Aaron Stone."


	4. FOUR

"Just wait here, I'll be back soon." Aaron said, working on cuffing Louis' hands to the steering wheel.

"Where are you going?" Louis asked him nervously.

"You got to change your clothes, so it's fair enough I get to do, too." He replied, smiling, before closing the driver's door. 

Louis watched him disappear through the rear-view mirror and leaned back against the seat, waiting for Aaron to return soon. The last thing he wanted was to be left alone in the middle of the road at nine in the night. They started from the warehouse at around seven and were on their way to the airport when Aaron had stopped by one of the public toilets and waited outside until Louis changed into the clothes he was given. He waited in silence for what seemed like almost a half hour, making him worry more.

What if Aaron had ditched him? Or something happened to him? Would he just be stuck in his car? 

There were numerous questions in his head he had no answers to. He never thought he'd wish for company from a man who had kidnapped him at gun-point. He looked around and sighed, knowing people wouldn't be around since Aaron had chosen to park the car a few metres behind the toilets in order to avoid being in the public eye. Not that the place around was filled with people, there was hardly a face or two. It was a few more minutes before panic really started to kick in him. He tried to pull against the handcuffs but only ended up wincing at the burning sensation due to the metal digging into his skin.

Suddenly, the door opened and he lifted his head to find an unknown man. But realisation struck him as soon as he saw him remove the keys to the handcuffs. Louis took a closer look as his hands were being released. Aaron had brown hair but now it was blonde, his face was clean-shaven and . . was he wearing make-up? He was so caught up with his thoughts that he did not hear something Aaron had said.

"W-What?" Louis asked looking up at him.

"What happened to you?" Aaron snapped instead of asking what he did before.

"Nothing." Louis answered, looking down and realising that his hands were now free and it felt good after hours of weird feeling of metal holding them. It was now that he noticed the dull red marks due to his struggles. He was snapped out of his thoughts as Aaron pulled him out of the car before walking him back to the passenger side.

"Now, I'm not going to tie you up until we get to California, but only if you promise not to try anything." Aaron said and he nodded in response. "Good. And I hope you stick to it, Louis. Otherwise, you know the consequences pretty well, I assume?"

"I won't do anything." Louis muttered which made Aaron smile as he shut the door and made his way to the driver's side.

Louis put on the seatbelt while the car started moving again. He couldn't help but wonder how amazingly fast Aaron had managed to change his appearance. But Aaron's dyed blonde hair only reminded him of Niall and oh, how he wanted to go back home, though he had been away only since the morning. Aaron, however, did notice how uneasy Louis was feeling, in turn making him nervous. Why? He didn't really know. He cleared his throat before deciding to break the silence as he saw Louis staring at him.

"What?" He asked, sounding a lot more rude than he had intended.

"N-Nothing. You look different . . nice." He heard Louis answer and looked at him.

"Really?" He asked and Louis nodded. "People wouldn't recognise me, will they?"

"I don't know." Louis whispered, shrugging. "But I almost . . thought you were s-someone else."

Once again, there was silence.

"Why are you so silent?" He asked again.

"Hmm?" Louis asked, probably, not paying attention to him again.

"You're usually the most interactive one among your band members, right?" 

Louis looked at him, wondering how he knew. A few hours back, he didn't even know who Louis was.

"I was quite bored the few hours you were asleep . . so I kinda stalked you. Sorry if you feel offen--" Aaron explained but Louis interrupted him.

"I don't." Louis stated. "Almost millions of fans do that everyday, so . ." He trailed off, looking down at his fingers.

A few more minutes of silence.

"Tell me about your bandmates." Aaron said, completely, taking Louis by surprise. 

Why was he even trying to fill in the silences?

 

* * *

 

"Do you guys think he's alright?" Harry asked, for the hundredth time as Zayn and Liam sat, silently, while Niall was scrolling through his phone.

The silence in the whole room was unbearable ever since Liam and Paul had returned from the police station. Harry almost fainted upon learning who had taken Louis while Zayn was so depressed that he hadn't even looked into any mirror since. Niall? Well, he was just scared out of his wits. He, mindlessly, scrolled through his twitter feed when something caught his eye and made him a bit relieved.

"Guys?" He said and all three heads turned to him.

Niall gave a small smile before showing them the phone screen where a fan had tweeted spotting Louis at the Cardiff airport. A photo was attached showing Louis sitting in a far seat with a cap on along with a person wearing a beanie, revealing blonde hair underneath. The good news was that she had tweeted it just seconds ago. The bad part, however, was that the airport they were at was almost three hours away.

"We gotta tell Dawson."

 

* * *

 

It had been a busy day at the airport and the receptionist was ready to go back home after completing her shift for the day. She slung her bag over her shoulder and turned to leave when she was interrupted a man who came rushing towards the counter, panic clearly written all over his face. He was accompanied by another group of men who looked equally impatient and she recognised four of them to be from One Direction.

"London Police Department." The first one stated showing her his badge. "This is an emergency. Can you tell us if Louis Tomlinson was here?" 

"I'm really sorry but my shift is over. Um . . Karen will be taking over. She'll be here in a couple of minutes." She replied, looking over his shoulder to see Niall and Zayn glancing around as if searching for someone. Louis, perhaps?

"Look, miss. This is an emergency. Louis Tomlinson was kidnapped earlier this morning and we need to find him!" He said and she almost gasped.

"Wait, what?" She exclaimed. "He was kidnapped?!"

"Don't create a scene. This is a high profile case and we don't want people to know." He told me.

"Alright. What can I do to help?" She asked putting down her backpack before heading over to her desk. 

"Check if Louis Tomlinson was here." He ordered and she nodded, making quick work with her fingers on the systems.

"He was. He took a flight to California and . . He was accompanied by someone." 

"Who?" Dawson asked her as Liam and Harry leaned over to listen intently.

They saw her typing away on the keyboard before she looked up and have gave them a confused look.

"Someone named Mark Johnson." She answered.

"Show me their passport scans." He said and she nodded again, working on the mouse before turning the monitor to face them.

Colton narrowed his eyes, removing the file in his assistant's hands and comparing the two. They looked similar yet different at the same time. 

Mark Johnson: Blonde hair, tan skin, caramel eyes, Irish, 28.

Aaron Stone: Brown hair, fair complexion, jade green eyes, British, 33.

"He isn't here." Zayn said approaching them with Niall close behind.

"They're almost same." Liam remarked, eyeing the two pictures. "Except for the hair and irises. But that's what dyes and lenses are for."

"When is the flight?" Dawson asked the receptionist.

"Was." She stated and they gave her a questioning look. "It left almost an hour ago."

"Then, when's the next flight?" He asked.

"In about . . three hours." She replied.

Colton glanced at the six faces that had accompanied him before turning back to her.

"Seven tickets."

 

 


	5. FIVE

"Where are we going?" Louis asked from his seat.

"My house. It's vacant for now." Aaron replied without shifting his attention from the road.

He had managed to steal a car from the parking lot at the airport and Louis didn't want to be involved in such a thing. He couldn't believe he was in a completely different country and had partly contributed in helping Aaron get here. He sighed and looked down at his hands which were, once again, restrained using the handcuffs but at least they weren't behind his back. 

Almost minutes later, the car came to a halt near a cottage situated away from the lights and the buzzing. Aaron got down before helping Louis out and towards the house. He unlocked the door and led Louis inside. The place had a stale and dusty smell as if it hadn't been occupied for years. Louis stood in the darkness, awkwardly, as he waited for Aaron to close the door before the lights were switched on. He saw a warm smile on the criminal's face as he watched him look around the room. But his happy eyes turned sad as they feel upon the wall beside Louis. Following his gaze, Louis saw the wall was full of framed photographs. They only consisted of two people. A man and a woman. He recognised Aaron but who was she? His wife? Maybe.

"She's my wife. Sherley" He heard Aaron say, coming up and standing beside him. 

Louis turned to look at him before turning back to the photos. 

"Where is she?" Louis asked, unusually curious to know. Aaron glanced at Louis before making his way over to the dusty couch. He dusted it a bit and sat down, patting the armchair opposite him. "It's a long story." Louis hesitantly walked towards the chair as he saw Aaron remove his jacket and place it on the chair. "You're a celebrity, Tomlinson. I assume you're not used to unclean places. You can sit on my jacket since it's not exactly mine."

 Louis sighed and sat down in the seat before looking up at him, expecting him to continue.

"She was my wife. I met her in Hawaii on a vacation and we hit it off. It started out as a fling but then we got serious. She was from America and I was from England. We maintained the long distance relationship until I proposed to her. She said yes and we got married and moved into this house." He stopped abruptly leaving Louis hanging with his thoughts.

"Then, what happened?" Louis asked after a few seconds of silence, finding himself intrigued in knowing Aaron's story. "I mean, how did you . . end up in jail?" He asked, not quite sure if he should have asked. 

"I was in Australia for some job and when I came back, she was . . different. She acted differently. I sensed it. Yet I didn't do anything, never asked her what was wrong. Then . . months later, she told me she was pregnant." He said, smiling at the memory. "I was crazily happy but for some reason, she wasn't. Nine months and we had our little bundle of joy. We named her Sharon."

Realisation hit Louis that she was the one he was asking to Dave about, yesterday. He couldn't help but wonder why Aaron was unsure of her safety earlier.

"A few months later, Sherley killed herself. I found her in the bathroom with her razor." He continued and Louis felt utterly sorry for his kidnapper.

"I-I'm sorry . . I a-asked." He whispered, trying to change the topic but he really wanted to know why she did that.

"I found a note she had written and . ." He saw Aaron stop for a breath before a tear rolled out of the criminal's eye.

Louis felt awkward, shifting in his seat, not knowing what to do. Was he supposed to comfort him? Or just sit and listen? But, for some reason, he decided on the latter.

"She wrote that while I was in Australia, she . . s-she was . . raped." He concluded and Louis almost cringed at the word. He knew it was going to end bad but definitely not like this. "It was her boss and a bunch of colleagues. She killed herself because she wasn't sure if I was the father and that she couldn't face the day I would know. She felt like she cheated on me."

Louis bit his lip and looked up at Aaron as he continued.

"I was livid. I wanted to rip every part of those monsters' bodies because of the pain they inflicted on her. But I couldn't do it alone. I went to the cops but none of them cared saying there was no evidence. So I decided that if I had to fight evil then I had to turn evil. I tried to contact people from the bad businesses and . . and I felt I got somewhere. That's when I met Dave. I wanted revenge from her boss and he wanted him dead. We joined hands. One by one, I killed those who were involved and on my second last, I got caught and arrested. You know how cops have the talent to always get their hands on the good guy, seeing him as evil?" He asked and Louis just shrugged in response. "I couldn't even get to the main guy. Her boss. I was put in the prison, tortured out of my mind for the murders but I didn't lose hope. I counted each day that passed. Six years, eleven months and nine days. And I finally managed to escape. Then, I met you. And you know the rest."

Louis felt something for Aaron but he didn't know what it was. Sympathy? Maybe. But he felt like Aaron wasn't really the criminal he was known to be. He was human, just like him and was doing what every husband would and should do. Just when he thought Aaron had softened a bit, he saw his face return to the usual one. The emotionless one.

"I'll go see if there is something to eat." He said, before getting up and going to the kitchen. Soon enough, Louis was alone in the silent living room. The only sound he could hear was of Aaron rummaging through the kitchen cabinets. He glanced towards the front door because no matter how much he tried, his thoughts kept hovering over means of escape. 

He, slowly, stood up and looked towards the kitchen to make sure Aaron didn't notice. Sure he was still in the kitchen but he wasn't bothering to check if Louis was still there. Louis, stealthily, walked towards the door making sure not to make the slightest of noise. He sighed in relief upon reaching the door. Glancing back once again, he turned and grabbed the doorknob with his cuffed hands and tried to open it. But the door didn't budge. He cursed himself for being stupid enough to think Aaron would leave it open.

He tried twisting and turning it in every way to pry it open but nothing worked. Too busy with trying to escape, he didn't notice or hear Aaron approach him. Louis didn't know how fast it happened but he was tackled to the floor and felt Aaron's weight above him. He tried to push him off the best he could but froze when a cold and sharp metal was placed against his throat.

"What were you doing, Louis? Were you trying to escape?" Aaron asked in disbelief.

Louis closed his eyes and looked away, unable to answer him.

"Were you trying to escape?!" Aaron seethed, pressing the knife further against Louis' skin but safe enough to prevent any kind of injury. "Answer me!"

"Yes!" Louis answered, feeling tears blur his vision.

"Why? I thought I could trust you, Louis!" The criminal exclaimed.

"Because I want to go home." Louis replied, his voice cracking at the last word.

Aaron sighed, angrily, and got up before pulling Louis to his feet and leading him to one of the chairs of the dining table.

"You don't understand, Louis, I cannot have you escaping. Dave has control of my daughter and if I don't kill Sherley's boss or I lose you and his business goes down, then Sharon's life will be at stake! And I can't afford to lose another only person I love." He said while Louis sat, silently, letting tears freely fall from his eyes. Aaron removed the keys to the handcuffs and unlocked them before restricting Louis' left hand to the chair's arm. "And do you really think that getting out of here is a good idea? Everyone Dave knows know that I have you. Even his enemies! They know that you're a celebrity. And I don't think you'd even like to get involved in anything concerning them.  _They_ are drug dealers, sex traffickers and serial killers, I'm talking about. They could be coming after us right now. After  _you._ Believe it or not, Louis, but you step out of that door without me and there is a high possibility that they'd kill you, keep you as their slave or maybe sell you off because they know you'd be worth millions! Now, you decide whether you want to run away or stay with me."

"I'm sorry." Louis whispered after a few seconds of trying to absorb his words.

"You should be." Aaron stated. "At least, for yourself if not Sharon. Don't go anywhere. I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Louis asked in panic upon seeing Aaron pick up his jacket and keys. How could he leave him alone after scaring him about what could happen to him?

"Don't worry, you're safe in here. I need to get some food. Was dumb enough to think there'd be something in the kitchen. I'll only take twenty minutes." Aaron told him before leaving.


	6. SIX

"We gotta go." Aaron said coming out of the kitchen once he was done with the dishes.

"Where?" Louis asked from his chair. He direly wanted to sleep after having the really delicious food Aaron had brought.

"I've got some information to collect." Came the reply and Louis groaned as he saw Aaron pick up the handcuffs but he didn't protest when his hands were locked in front of him.

He followed Aaron out of the house, looking around nervously. He couldn't imagine himself in the situations Aaron had described earlier and, sure as hell, wanted to stay away from whoever Dave's enemies were. He was rather slow and that made Aaron stop and turn back to look at him.

"What? I'm scared." He replied, making Aaron roll his eyes.

"Okay, the situation isn't as bad as I described it. I won't let anything happen to you." He said, placing a hand on Louis' back and walking beside him.

"Really? Because I think that you are the one who's been threatening me so far with guns and knives!" Louis snapped, sarcastically, making the older man chuckle.

"But you should note the fact that I didn't hurt you." He replied and Louis remained silent because he knew it was true. He might have kidnapped him and threatened him but he hasn't hurt him yet. In fact, he almost saved his life when Dave was about to kill him. Aaron opened the passenger's door and Louis got in before he watched him take the driver's seat. 

"You like music?" Aaron asked as he started driving and his fingers moved to the radio.

"I'm a singer, you know?" Louis mumbled.

"Right. Don't know why, but I kinda keep forgetting that." He replied.

The radio picked up a station and soon, Louis heard  _Best Song Ever_ being played and felt a knot in his chest. He, truly, missed home. He missed his family. He missed his bandmates.

"That's a catchy tune." Aaron stated, turning up the volume. "Happen to know the artist?"

Louis remained silent for a few seconds before replying.

"It's One Direction."

 

* * *

 

"We're here." Aaron said, opening the car door and letting Louis out as soon as he parked outside the building.

Louis waited for Aaron to lock the car as he glanced up at the really tall building. A few seconds later, he was joined by Aaron.

"Is this your office?" He asked, eyes still trained on the infrastructure.

"Sort of." He heard Aaron reply. "Let's go."

The reception was huge as if it belonged to some kind of a five star hotel. Louis knew because he had been in many similar ones. Except, armed men roamed around the place, probably, guarding it. He felt strange again and walked faster to keep up with Aaron and not be left behind. They walked a considerable distance before reaching a narrower way and getting into the elevator.

"I will try my best not to leave you alone but I cannot guarantee that. So try not to talk to people much and if anyone asks you who you are, just tell them you came here with Aaron Stone. Alright?" Aaron said halfway through the ride and Louis nodded. "But I'm guessing they'll recognise you since you are . . you know . .  _famous._ So, just don't interact much."

The lift dinged loudly, the screen above the doors reading 17. Aaron took Louis' arm and walked out as soon as the elevator doors opened. The corridor was silent and empty unlike the reception and, for some reason, Louis found it creepy. He walked closer to Aaron, looking down at his shoes but was taken by surprise when Aaron was suddenly snatched away from his side.

He felt more scared seeing a man even taller than Aaron, twist his arm behind his back and point a gun at Louis.

"Who are you and why are you here?" The man holding Aaron asked.

Louis gulped and tried to answer but nothing came out.

"Answer or he dies!" He said, pointing the gun to Aaron's head, who looked as confused as Louis.

"I-I'm Louis, I . . uh, came here with A-Aaron Stone." Louis answered but was cut off by the man.

"Ha! You trynna fool me? That bugger is in jail!" The man said, making Aaron roll his eyes as he recognised the voice.

"Oh, for God's sake, Steve! I'm right here!" Aaron exclaimed, wincing as he tried to free his arm but ended up twisting it more.

"What?" Steve asked, releasing the shorter man's hand and taking a good look at him.

Aaron turned to him and smiled, smugly.

"Stone! I thought it was just a rumour but you really broke out!" Steve exclaimed, ruffling Aaron's dyed hair. "Man, you look different with blonde hair!"

"Whatever." Aaron muttered, rubbing his arm to get rid of the dull pain.

"Who's he?" Steve asked, pointing at Louis, who was witnessing the reunion from a few steps away.

"He's Louis Tomlinson from One Dimension. Ring any bells?" Aaron asked.

"Direction." Louis corrected, rolling his eyes, tiredly.

"I know him! What's he doing here?" Steve asked with eyes glancing over to the restraints on his hands. "Hostage?"

"You can call him that. But I prefer him as a companion." Aaron replied, walking over to Louis and leading him further down the corridor while Steve followed.

"What if people are looking for him?" Steve asked in concern.

"Nobody is, except maybe his bandmates. But I don't really think they know that we're not in England anymore." Aaron answered. "Don't worry, though. He cooperates a lot."

His words scared Louis more. Were people really not looking for him? 

Finally, they reached a door and Steve unlocked it, moving aside so Aaron and Louis could enter. Louis, immediately, felt uncomfortable upon realising it was some kind of a conference room and around ten different scary-looking men occupied the chairs. He looked at Aaron, his eyes asking him to take him away but Aaron just sighed.

"Please." Louis whispered and Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Alright. Steve? Get him settled in some other room. Give him some time to refresh." Aaron said, releasing Louis' arm from his grip and handing Steve the keys to his handcuffs.

Louis' fear doubled over on the decision. He didn't want to go with Steve or anyone else. They were all big and weird and scared the shit out of him. At least, Aaron looked normal and kind, not scary.

"No. I won't go with him." Louis said, backing away as Steve tried to reach him. He could see Aaron get annoyed but he didn't care.

He frowned and pulled Louis out of the room before grabbing his collar and pressing him against the wall.

"You don't want to sit in the meeting so I am sending you with Steve. You can get some rest, Louis. Why are you behaving so oddly?" Aaron asked.

" _You_ are behaving oddly! You were the one who told me to stay with you!" Louis replied.

"I know! And I am sending you with Steve because I know he is a nice person. He won't do anything!" Aaron told him, reassuringly.

"But . . he kinda scares me." Louis whispered and Aaron sighed, releasing his grip from his collar when they heard Steve clear his throat.

"I hate to interrupt your conversation but . ." He said, looking at Louis. ". . you don't really whisper lowly and I can still hear you. And I might look scary but I won't do you nothing. Promise. Especially, since you're Aaron's _companion_." He said and Aaron looked at Louis, nodding at him to go with Steve.

"Fine. But if something happens to me, then you will be responsible." Louis said, reluctantly, walking towards Steve.

"Fair enough." Aaron mumbled before entering the room.

"C'mon, popstar." Steve said taking Louis' arm while he just rolled his eyes at the name.

 

* * * 

 

"We gotta go." Louis heard Aaron say as he entered the room Steve left him in about two hours ago.

 "Why is that the only thing you say everytime you enter?" Louis exclaimed, sighing as he saw him approach, chuckling at his words.

"Because we really have to go. I got a meeting in a bar. Now, would you like to come or stay here with Ste--"

"I'll come." Louis replied.

Aaron smiled before taking Louis' hand and pulling him to his feet but heard him whimper and stumble, dragging the chair along.

He turned back, confusedly, and realised that Steve had chosen to cuff Louis' leg to the chair's.

"Where's the key?" He asked and Louis nodded towards the counter beside the door.

Aaron took them and unlocked the chain while Louis held out his hands for Aaron to restrain them again, but he didn't. 

"I'll leave you this way if you promise not to do anything." Aaron said, cocking an eyebrow and Louis nodded.

"Why are we going to a club?" Louis asked as he saw Aaron fill in bullets into the gun.

"Eric's there. And I need to get my hands on him." Aaron replied tucking the gun in his belt behind and hid it with his shirt before leading Louis out into the corridor.

"Eric is . .?" 

"Sherley's boss."


	7. SEVEN

"You see that guy?" Aaron asked before taking a sip from his beer and nodding towards a suited, middle-aged man in a far corner of the club. "That's Eric."

Louis took a quick glance towards Eric and returned his gaze to Aaron, who was seated on the bar stool opposite him.

"You're going to kill him?" He asked and Aaron nodded in reply. "Here?"

"No. I'm gonna lure him out behind the bar and then he's as good as dead." He said and Louis felt sick just by the thought of someone going to be murdered. "Although, I think I'd like to keep him and then torture him until he begs me for death."

Louis didn't reply and just sat, silently, his fingers gripping the bottle of the cold beverage.

"Beer tastes good when it's cold, you know?" He heard Aaron say and looked up to see he was, already, done with his beer. "What happened? You don't drink? I thought most celebrities do."

Louis just shrugged and gulped down his whole drink before placing the bottle on the counter.

"You're kinda fast. We should have a face-off sometime." Aaron remarked, smiling and glanced around to notice Eric wasn't in his spot. "Alright. I need to get my job done. But you have to promise me one thing."

"What?" Louis asked, seeing him reveal a knife along with his gun. 

"That you'll stay right here and not go anywhere." He said and Louis nodded before Aaron grabbed his hand and placed the knife in it. Louis looked up at him in confusion and fear. "If anyone does or even tries to do anything to you then don't hesitate to use it. Okay? I'm not saying this place is filled with enemies but you never know. It's just a precaution."

"Don't leave me alone." Louis said and Aaron's eyes seemed to soften a bit.

"You won't be alone for long. I'll take five minutes. Ten at max. You'll be fine. Okay?" Aaron reassured and Louis nodded, gripping the knife tighter. "Don't go anywhere. _Please_." Aaron told him. Although, the please seemed desperate to Louis. As if Aaron didn't want him to go anywhere because it would cost him a lot. And it did. It would cost him his daughter's life.

With that, he saw Aaron disappear through the dancing crowd. He looked around, cautiously, as if he didn't trust anyone. He had never felt more unshielded in a crowded room before.

He sat in the same place, for almost ten minutes now, and was worried that Aaron hasn't returned yet. He gave another look around the people in the club and his eyes stopped at a particular one sitting in one of the dimly-lit corners of the place. The person's back was faced to him but he could recognise him anywhere. The blonde hair styled into a quiff. The grey-coloured, Los Angeles Lakers baseball cap.

_Niall._

Louis had a hard time believing his eyes as he wondered what Niall was even doing in California. His mind paced in thoughts of rescue. He could, actually, get up and go tell Niall everything. He could get Aaron arrested and get back home to wake up in his warm bed. But one small thought vanished all the others.

What Aaron told him this morning. _Sharon's life was at stake_. If Louis escaped, then, they would kill her. And Louis didn't want to be the reason to risk an innocent girl's life. He resisted the urge to get to his feet and approach his friend. But . . was he really Niall?

However, his doubt was clarified when the person turned around and he saw the features. It was him. It was Niall. Smiling at one of the people he was sitting with. Louis felt tears begin to form in his eyes at his inability to decide. Decide whether to save himself and get a criminal arrested or put himself in further risk to save a six-year-old's life. Suddenly, his mind went blank as he saw Niall's baby blue eyes meet his sea-blue orbs and a surprised expression replaced Niall's happy one.

Niall squinted his eyes to make sure he was seeing the right person and he felt, unbelievably, happy as he confirmed it was  _Louis._ He was sitting right there by the counter and it was only a distance of few feet and drunk, sweaty people that separated them. He, immediately, got onto his feet with a smile and started to push through the people to get to Louis. Louis froze in his seat, not knowing what to do. His first instinct was to drop the knife to the floor so Niall couldn't see it.

He stood up and stopped himself from going over and engulfing himself into one of the best  _Horan hug_ ever. But he didn't. He just stood and watched Niall push past people on the dance floor. What was he doing? He was risking a child's life? Was he so selfish that he couldn't care? He wasn't. He cared even though he never met her. Moreover, what if Aaron was somewhere close? What if he was watching him right now? What would he do to Niall if he knew? He can't do this. He cannot risk so many lives for himself.

He looked up and saw Niall just about five footsteps away from him.

"Louis!" He heard Niall exclaim from his position.

So, he turned on his feel and took off in the opposite direction. Trying to make his way past the crowd to somehow get away from Niall. He was so occupied with his thoughts that he didn't even realise he was crying, the tears streaming down his face. And Niall's heart-warming voice calling for him only made it worse. 

"Louis? Where are you going? Stop! Please, it's me, Niall!" He heard Niall call out but he didn't stop.

He felt cold air hit his skin as soon as he made it out of the crowd. He turned back and saw Niall still struggling to get out so he looked around for some place to go and found the rest rooms. Without thinking, he rushed inside the empty place and locked himself in one of the stalls, pressing his ear and trying to listen for any footsteps. A few seconds later, he rested his head against one of the walls and closed his eyes as tears spilled out of them. However, they shot open as soon as he heard footsteps outside and realised it was Niall.

"Louis? Are you in here?" He heard him ask and covered his mouth with his hands to muffle the sobs that escaped his lips.

 _Please, Niall. Just go away. Just go._ He repeated in his head not wishing to put his bandmate in any kind of danger. But what Niall said next, hurt him more.

"Louis, I know you're here. I don't understand why you are trying to run away from me. Just come out and we can go home. Everyone misses you, Lou. Do you hear me?" Niall's voice echoed through his mind and he just wanted to open the door and go out. But he couldn't.

There were a few more seconds of silence before he heard Niall sniffle and he felt worse, realising he was crying. Niall, dejectedly, walked out of the room and slammed the door shut. Louis sunk to the floor, burying his face in his hands and cried his heart out for what felt like hours but was only a few minutes before the door opened, almost making him jump.

"Louis, you in there?" He heard Aaron's voice followed by a soft knock.

He got up and wiped his face before opening the door to see Aaron.

"What are you doing here? I told you not to go anywh--are you crying?" Aaron asked, noticing his puffy, red eyes and splotchy face. 

"Nothing. I just had to pee." Louis replied in a voice that seemed low and vulnerable to Aaron. His eyes, carefully, studied Louis as he stepped out of the stall and looked around.

"Louis? What happened?" Aaron asked placing a hand on his shoulder and Louis turned back to him. "Did something happen?"

When Louis didn't reply, Aaron decided not to push him further but he did sense that something was wrong with him. 

He just took Louis' arm and they walked out.

"Tell me." He coaxed to somehow get Louis to share whatever had happened. "I know you were crying."

"I-I saw Niall." Louis replied, reluctantly. "My bandmate."

"What?" Aaron exclaimed and Louis nodded. "Why didn't you tell me? Where is he?"

"I d-don't know. But . .don't d-do anyt-thing to him." Louis told him.

"I won't, Louis. But we need to get out of here. I can't afford to let you go." Aaron replied before tugging at his arm and dragging Louis back into the club, towards the entrance.

Louis looked around to make sure Niall wasn't close as he tried to take bigger steps to keep up with Aaron's pace. But he was taken aback when Aaron froze at the sight of two men standing a few steps ahead.

"Shit." He heard Aaron mutter before he pulled Louis in the opposite direction, now almost running past all the people on the dance floor.

Louis looked back and saw the two men chasing them but ran faster when Aaron pulled him along. 

"Aaron? They're coming after us!" Louis said in panic.

"I know! I know! Just don't look back, okay? Now, come on and run faster! We need to get out of here!" Aaron replied as Louis almost tripped on his own feet but caught his footing. 

He had to put in more effort than Aaron because as much as he'd hate to admit it but he was a lot shorter than Aaron and so were his legs. 

"Who are they?" Louis asked again.

"They're Eric's men." He replied. 

The music inside the club was so loud that no one really heard the sound of a gun being shot but Louis, certainly, heard Aaron grunt in pain. Feeling a warm liquid soak his shirt, he looked down and Aaron had been shot in the shoulder. His mind raced with fear at the crimson red liquid that was flowing from his wound down into Louis' shirt. 

"Are you alright?" Louis asked, stopping, but Aaron pulled him again with one hand pressing on the bullethole while his feet never stopped running.

They, finally, made it out of the club and Aaron stopped in his tracks, turning back to look at the two men who were following them. He pushed Louis behind him before grabbing his gun and aiming it at them.

"Oh, so boss was right. You do have that singer from the band!" One of them said and Aaron, chuckled, sarcastically and within a second shot the guy in the forehead.

Louis felt uneasy upon seeing a body go lifeless in front of them. The other guy raised his gun but Aaron was faster. He tucked his gun back and turned to Louis who was, visibly, shaking with fear before taking Louis' hand, gentler than he expected and led him to a small alley.

Once there, he let Louis' hand go and knelt to the floor while clutching his shoulder in pain. Louis helped him remove his jacket and pressed it against Aaron's shoulder to apply pressure on the wound. 

Aaron took Louis' hand with his bloody one and removed the jacket from the wound. Louis felt nauseous at the sight of blood in front of him and Aaron's blood on his hand and shirt didn't help either.

He watched with concern as Aaron grabbed the bullet in his hand, wincing a little. He was lucky the bullet didn't go deep into his skin so he pulled it out as fast as he could while groaning at the ripping pain.

Louis tore a piece of Aaron's shirt and wrapped it around his shoulder for a makeshift bandage. By the time they were done, Aaron was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. 

"Are you al--" Louis asked but was interrupted by a gunshot which made him jump.

"Aaron Stone? We know you're out here! Surrender yourself and let Louis Tomlinson go!" The voice said and the two of them realised it was a cop.

Louis wanted to alert them but stopped himself, especially when Aaron stood up and pushed him against the wall before clamping his hand on Louis' mouth. 

"Don't, Louis. Please." Aaron said, softly, and Louis nodded seeing pain in Aaron's eyes.

Aaron removed his hand and retrieved his gun before looking at the opposite end of the alley. Louis heard footsteps approach and Aaron grabbed Louis' arm, almost making him stumble, as he pulled him along.

He could hear gunshots being fired and ducked his head as if to protect himself. They reached the end of the alley and Louis realised Aaron had taken the other way to the parking lot.

"Stop! He has Louis! Stop shooting!" Louis heard Niall yell and he felt the urge to stop and run away from Aaron. But he didn't.

He just let Aaron drag him to the car and shove him in the passenger seat. Aaron got in and started the car before reversing it and turning towards the exit, his gun still in one hand.

"No! Stop the car! Please?" Louis said as he saw Niall along with a cop blocking the exit.

Aaron sighed in annoyance before slamming his foot on the brakes, making Louis jerk forward. Louis panicked more when he saw Aaron cock his gun as if about to shoot.

"No! You're not shooting, Niall! You said you won't do anything to him!" Louis said slapping Aaron's hand which made the gun drop to the floor.

Aaron glared at Louis as he bent down to pick the gun and, nearly, missed a bullet that was shot at him.

"You're not exactly cooperating, Louis." Aaron said. "I'm sorry."

Louis creased his eyebrows to understand what he said but Aaron took him by surprise when he pushed him against the passenger door and he hit his head to the window with a brutal force.

He placed a hand to his forehead and felt a warm liquid trickle down his skin. His vision blurred and he groaned at the pain. The last thing he saw was Aaron reaching for his collar and pressing a gun to his head before everything went black.


	8. EIGHT

Louis groaned at a stinging pain in his forehead which woke him up from his forced slumber. He opened his eyes and saw Aaron's figure above him, feeling anger rage in him. He wanted to just lie there and let Aaron clean the wound using the cool and wet cotton but right now, he just hated Aaron for what he did.

He flinched and pushed Aaron, backing away as far from him as possible. He looked around and from the looks of it, it seemed like a cottage or something.

"Louis, what are you doing?" Aaron asked reaching for him.

"Don't touch me!" Louis snapped, slapping Aaron's hand away.

"Let me clean your wound. It could get infe--" Aaron said, reaching for him again but Louis cut him off.

"Get away from me!" Louis exclaimed, backing away but hitting the headboard instead. "You told me you won't do anything to Niall!"

"I didn't. What are you talking, Louis? Come here and let me bandage it." He said crawling towards Louis with the medicine-soaked cotton but Louis pushed him again.

"You shot Niall! You shot him. Y-You pushed me against the door! You said you wouldn't do anything!" He kept ranting and Aaron was utterly confused.

"Louis? I didn't do anything! Stop freaking out!" Aaron told him, extending his hand to grab Louis' ankle and pull him closer but Louis kicked him in the shoulder, hitting the exact place he was shot last night. Aaron yelled in pain, his hand shooting up to hold the wound as he watched Louis get out of the bed. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked, standing up and seeing Louis walk over to the window.

"Where am I? Where did you take me again?" Louis asked turning to glare at Aaron. 

"Relax. You're still in California." Aaron said going over to where he was standing but stopped when he saw Louis pick up a vase from the table.

"Don't come near me. I'm serious, Aaron." Louis threatened, raising the vase as if he'd throw it at him.

"What are you doing, Louis? Put the vase down." He said, moving a step closer to try and calm him down. "I won't do anyth--"

Louis threw the vase without thinking and Aaron barely missed the hit by ducking.

"Are you crazy?!" Aaron exclaimed rushing over to a livid Louis. "What has gotten into you? Stop acting paranoid!"

"I am not paranoid. You are!" Louis said, trying to push Aaron away from him by throwing weak but effective punches at Aaron, anywhere he can. "You are a murderer! You shot Niall! You hurt me! You killed the two guys! You killed Eric!"

Aaron wanted to fight back but he didn't want to do anything to hurt Louis. Not in the emotions he was facing. He'd only end up angering him more. But when he got the chance, he blocked another punch Louis threw at him and turned him around before wrapping his arm around Louis' waist and pulling him close so he couldn't get away. Louis squirmed with all the energy he had but Aaron's grip was tighter.

"Let me go! I don't like you. You are a bad person! HELP! SOMEONE HELP M-!" Louis screamed but Aaron silenced him by slapping his hand over Louis' mouth.

"Louis? Please calm down. I didn't do anything. Just listen to me." Aaron tried to reason but Louis shook his head and tried to get away as much as possible. Aaron could feel water trickle down his hand and he knew Louis was crying.

He gritted his teeth as he felt Louis' teeth dig into his hand but didn't let go. A few seconds passed and the fight, finally, left Louis as he gave up and sunk into Aaron's large arms. Aaron sighed in relief and removed his hand before dragging Louis over to the bed and making him sit on the edge. Louis sat in defeat as he didn't even look up while Aaron picked up the cotton and went back to cleaning the dried blood around Louis' forehead. Louis, slightly, flinched at the pain but didn't let out a sound.

"Louis?" Aaron said, kneeling down in front of him but the brown-haired boy didn't answer. "Louis?" He said again, taking his chin and forcing him to look at him. "I'm sorry I hurt you but I didn't intend to do it. You weren't cooperating, Louis. We wouldn't have gotten out of there if I didn't do it. They would've killed me and taken you. I know you would have been safe and back home. But how can I not think about my daughter, Louis?"

He continued cleaning the bruised skin until it was free of the dried blood. He threw the cotton aside before taking another fresh piece and dipping it into the medicine.

"But . . you shot Niall." Louis whispered.

"Did you see me shoot Niall?" Aaron asked and Louis shook his head  _no_ in reply. "Then, how can you blame me for that?"

"You were going to sh--"

"I was  _going to._ But I didn't. Niall is fine, Louis. I didn't kill him. I didn't even kill Eric. He got away. He was aware I had broken out of prison and was already on the alert. He even knew I had you. The two men I killed were sent to either kill me or take  _you._ Eric has planned to use you against me because he knows I can't kill you!" Aaron explained, placing the cotton on Louis' wound before using some tape to hold it in place.

"Why can't you kill me?" Louis whispered, ignoring the burning sensation on his forehead due to whatever medicine Aaron had used.

"Because I don't want to. I only took you because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time. I went to prison once and I cannot go back again, Louis. Wouldn't your guards have arrested me if they knew I had broken into your house? Of course, they would have. I'm sorry that I dragged you with me for the last two days but I had no other choice. And believe me, you are the only person I have apologised to this much." Aaron told him, finishing the bandage. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

"What did you do? How did we get away yesterday?" Louis asked him in a low voice and Aaron only shrugged.

"Nothing. I just gave the cops a false threat that I'd kill you if they tried anything. So here we are." He replied. 

"Why does Eric want me?" He asked.

"I don't w--" 

They were interrupted by Aaron's flip phone ringing, almost startling Louis. Aaron sighed and got up, going over to the table. He checked the number and glanced at Louis before going into the balcony and closing the door to take the call.

Louis sat in silence, his mind racing with fear. What if Eric did get him? What would happen? But for some reason, he felt safe with Aaron. 

It was almost after a few minutes that he finally saw Aaron return with a worried expression on his face. He watched him throw the phone on the bed and rush over to the living room, picking up the small backpack they had brought along with them.

"What happened?" Louis asked seeing Aaron dig through the bag and pick out a pair of jeans and t-shirt before coming over to Louis.

"Go and get ready. We have to go." He said, handing the clothes to Louis.

"Why?" Louis questioned, making Aaron frown.

"Eric trailed our vehicle yesterday. He could be anywhere. We need to go." Aaron exclaimed, pulling Louis up and nudging him towards the bathroom. 

"Why can't you just kill him if he's coming for you?" Louis asked, considering the fact that Aaron didn't hesitate to kill two people yesterday.

"That's the problem. He's not coming for me. He's coming . . for you. And I cannot let anything happen to you." Aaron replied and Louis fear doubled as he, silently, walked into the bathroom, not wanting to know anymore. 

Once he had taken a nice but short shower, he got ready and went out. He, mentally, sighed upon seeing Aaron approach him with the handcuffs back in his hand. He hated them. But he knew that Aaron didn't trust him after what he had done this morning. He didn't resist as Aaron locked his hands to one of the bars of the headboard before leaving to get ready himself.

Louis sat, silently, for a lot of minutes before he heard a knock on the door making him jump. His body tensed up as he wondered who it could be. Although, his first instinct was to glance towards the bathroom door and, unfortunately for him, Aaron came out with used up clothes and wet towel in his hands.

Louis' mind debated whether to tell Aaron that there was someone at the door or not. Should he not tell anything? If it is the cops, then maybe they'll break down the door and get him out. But what if it's someone else? Dave's enemies? Therefore, Louis decided to tell him.

He was about to open his mouth and speak but another loud banging on the door interrupted him. Their heads snapped towards the door and Aaron's first move was to grab a handkerchief and stuff it in Louis' mouth before placing his hand on top to prevent him from spitting it out.

He waited, patiently, as there was another loud banging before he heard someone speak.

"Aaron Stone! You have been surrounded by the police so better open the door or we'll knock it down!" The person said and by the way the voice screamed of authority, Aaron could tell it was a cop. "Just surrender yourself and make it easy for all of us or we can do it the hard way! Open the door! We give you a countdown to ten."

_Ten._

_Nine_.

Aaron turned to Louis and saw a bit of sparkle in his eyes. Hope. But he felt bad that it wouldn't last long.

 _Eight_.

He removed his hand from Louis' mouth but Louis was too scared to even spit out the cloth due to the stern look Aaron gave him.

 _Seven_.

"I'm sorry, Louis." Aaron said before picking up one of the table cloths and forcing it between Louis' teeth, tying the ends together and holding the handkerchief securely in his mouth.

 _Six_.

Louis' eyes looked at him in confusion and fear as he released Louis' hands before cuffing them behind his back. 

 _Five_.

 _Four_.

Louis struggled, furiously, as Aaron grabbed his arm and dragged him into the living room.

"You have three more to go, Stone. Open up!" The cop said again.

 _Three_.

Unheeding Louis' muffled pleas, Aaron pushed him to his knees while Louis felt tears in his eyes.

What was Aaron going to do?

 _Two_.

"I'm sorry, Louis. But I have to do this." Aaron said again, removing his gun and loading it.

Louis' eyes widened at the weapon as he tried to fight again but Aaron, somehow, managed to hold him still with a grip on his collar. All Louis could hear was the sound of his heart beating at an unusual rate. But it became worse when he felt the gun against the back of his head and he whimpered before trying to plead Aaron against it but his words got lost in translation. When Aaron didn't listen anymore, he shut his eyes tight to try and prepare himself for whatever would happen next.

 _One_.


	9. NINE

Louis' whole body was shivering with fear as he didn't even try to fight against Aaron's grip. He just knelt on the ground, subdued and scared for his life. He let tears freely fall from his face as he felt cruelly betrayed by Aaron. How could he? He said he won't do anything to hurt him. He closed his eyes tighter when he heard the door come crashing down with a loud noise.

The three officers, led by Colton Dawson, who entered were, visibly, taken aback at the scene in front of them. Louis was on his knees, hands tied behind his back along with a gag to shut him up while being held at gunpoint by the absconding criminal they had been looking for since the past three days. Dawson clutched his gun a bit more tighter and aimed it at Aaron. The man holding Louis just smirked and glared at Dawson, who glared back with the same intensity.

"Drop your gun." Colton spat, his gun unmoving from his target.

"You drop yours. We don't want Tomlinson to die, do we?" He retorted, slightly, nudging his captive's collar.

"You wouldn't." Colton stated, however, his concern took over seeing Louis' weak and vulnerable form.

"What makes you think I wouldn't?" Aaron asked, pressing the gun's barrel deeper against Louis' head, making him whimper.

Colton wanted to drop his gun to save Louis but stopped himself because he knew Aaron wouldn't let him go and he didn't want the boy to be away from home any longer. But if he stood his ground, then, there is a huge chance that Aaron would not hesitate to hurt Louis since he is  _known_ for killing people, heartlessly. Something in Aaron's expression told him that he wouldn't hurt him. That he was just trying to threaten them to escape. That's what he had done last night, too.

"You wouldn't. I know you wouldn't." Dawson replied while motioning one of his men to approach the two.

"Don't! Don't step any further or I'll put a bullet through his head!" Aaron threatened seeing a cop take a step towards them and Louis winced as the grip on his collar tightened, almost lifting him off the ground now.

Louis shook his head, almost unnoticeably, to get the cops to stop. He had never been more scared, not even when Dave had threatened to kill him back at the warehouse. The only sound he could hear was his fast heartbeat and erratic breathing. He tried to struggle again seeing that Aaron's threats weren't enough to deter the policemen but Aaron had an iron grip on him. Had he not been gagged, he would've begged them to drop their guns and let them go but that wasn't an option. All he could do, now, was wish that the policemen are not foolish enough to let him die.

However, panic rose to his throat and he widened his eyes as he saw one policeman start approaching them. He let out muffled protests, shaking his head vigorously to stop the man. Aaron noticed how scared Louis was, going by his reaction. He felt sorry for the boy he was holding but he had no other choice. He had to do it, otherwise, they'd throw him back in jail.

"Don't come close. Just back off!" Aaron reasoned, cocking the gun off safety and nudging it against Louis' head again. And it had worked. The man stopped in his tracks, hesitantly, looking back at the first man who had spoken, probably the head of their team.

"Go, Waters! He won't do anything! Go!" Dawson ordered.

"I'm a murderer, officer. I can do it and it won't even take a minute before the life leaves him! Stay back!" Aaron threatened again but the man didn't stop.

So, with no other choice, Aaron took a deep breath before pointing the gun at Louis' leg and pulling the trigger. Louis cried out into the cloth that was forced into his mouth, his body hunching over in defense to assist the pain. Aaron released his grip from his collar and Louis, instantly, collapsed to the floor. He curled up into himself, still screaming and crying at the ripping pain spreading through his leg like raging fire.

"No! Stop!" Dawson yelled at his officer. "Stay back!"

"I told you, officer. It was just a warning! But I can do much more than this." Aaron said, gun now aimed at Louis' head. "Drop your guns and let us go. I have important business to take care of."

Aaron waited for them to react or oblige but they did neither. He, mentally, apologised to Louis before bending down and grabbing Louis' hair to force him onto his feet. He let out another muffled cry at the pain due to his weight getting onto the leg. Aaron placed the barrel of the gun just under Louis' chin and glared at the four men in uniforms in front of him. However, he smugly smiled when he saw the four weapons drop to the floor and they raised their hands up in surrender. Louis breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the scene but the feeling soon vanished when he felt Aaron press the gun to his skin before speaking.

"Now, get into that room." Aaron ordered and the four of them, quickly, obliged. 

Louis whimpered as Aaron, practically, dragged him along with him by his hair towards the room he had asked the four men to go to. He dropped Louis to the floor and worked on locking the room's door before throwing the key out of the window beside the kitchen door. Louis laid, numbly, on the floor still trying to recover from the pain that was only building with every passing second. He was confused when he saw Aaron rush to him with a concerned expression.

"I'm so sorry, Louis. I'm so, so sorry." He apologised before picking him up in his arms and rushing out of the house.

He, ever so gently, placed Louis in the backseat of the car before closing the door and going back into the cottage to get some supplies for them. Louis closed his eyes and cried, for all he was worth. All he could feel was  _pain._ The pain from the bullet wound and the pain of betrayal.

A few seconds later, the driver's door opened and he watched in anger as he saw Aaron get in and place a back pack in the passenger seat. Louis wanted to kick the shit out of the man but right now, he felt paralysed. Too much in pain to even move his leg. He could feel his jeans get soaked by the blood from his wound. His thoughts were interrupted when the car bumped on a speed-bump and Louis let out a pained moan into the gag, tears streaming down his face like he felt he might pass out from the pain.

"I'm sorry, Louis. Just hang on for a few minutes and I'll do something to fix the pain." He heard Aaron say and, angrily, grunted in response.

As Aaron said, a few minutes later, Louis felt the car come to a halt earning another muffled yelp from him at the way his body was forced a bit forward on the seat. Aaron grabbed the backpack and opened the back door as a cool breeze hit Louis' profusely sweating skin.

"I am so sorry, Louis." Aaron whispered again to Louis, who didn't even look at him.

He took Louis' wounded leg and folded the jeans up until the bullethole was exposed. He almost cringed at the amount of blood Louis had lost and hated himself for doing that to him. Picking up the bag, he removed a forcep before sucking in a breath and attaching the ends to the bullet. Louis screamed in pain and weakly shook his leg to get rid of Aaron's hold.

"Hold still, Louis. You'll make it worse." Aaron said and Louis went still. "Now, this might hurt a bit." 

Aaron grabbed the metal using the forcep and gave it a sharp tug, effectively removing it as fast as possible. Louis grunted softly, his teeth biting deeper into the cloth that took rent in his mouth.

Aaron used cotton to clean up the blood before using another fresh piece to cover it and pulled the jeans over it. He bent down and removed a roll of duct tape, wrapping it around his leg, over the jeans, to hold the cotton in place. Seconds later, Louis felt the pain reduce to simple stinging. He, finally, let his muscles relax and lie down on the seat but still glaring at Aaron. No matter what, he was still furious at him. He backed away as Aaron reached for his face.

"What happened? I'm just going to remove the cloth." Aaron explained reaching for him again but Louis kicked his side with his good leg. "Ow! What's wrong?!"

Louis just scoffed and looked away, tears forming again. 

"Are you mad at me?" He asked but Louis didn't respond. He just laid still, left cheek against the leather seat. "I'm sorry for what I did, Louis. You have the complete right to be angry but I'll explain later."

Louis closed his eyes, more tears spilling out of them and Aaron took it as his cue to get out. He adjusted Louis' injured leg in a comfortable way and went back to drive them to somewhere safe but first, he wanted to get Louis to a hospital. Louis curled up and cried again. He wanted to go back home. He was so close to escaping just minutes ago but everything just went downhill, taking him another step closer to losing faith in rescue.

After what seemed like hours, the car finally stopped and Aaron got out. It was one of Dave's friend's house. He was a doctor and a trusted one in Dave's gang. He went over to get Louis from the backseat. He had become numb and unresponsive. Even when Aaron picked him up and carried him towards the house, he didn't fight. 

He let Louis stand and placed an arm around his waist before ringing the doorbell. A few seconds passed and he finally saw Daniel open the door.

"Aaron?" He exclaimed in surprise before his eyes shifted to Louis' awake but slumped form beside him. "Isn't he Louis Tomli--"

"He got shot. It's an emergency." 


	10. TEN

"How's your leg?" Aaron asked, trying to fill in the awkward silence that lingered around the two of them. Louis had been silent ever since he got here. The only time he really spoke was when answering Daniel and that, too, with a mere _yes_ or  _no._

"Stop acting like you care." Louis, muttered, his fingers fiddling with the ends of his t-shirt.

Aaron sighed before trying to get him to talk again.

"I'm sorry I did that, Louis." He said and Louis chuckled, bitterly.

"You're sorry? That's what you always are, aren't you?" He retorted, sarcastically. "You fucking shot me today! But, then, you keep saying you're sorry and that you won't let anything happen to me. I don't feel safe with you at all because you are the one who has hurt me so far!"

"I know I did and I'm really, really sor--"

"Stop saying you're sorry." Louis said, quietly, looking away from him. "Because you aren't. I'm hating that word from now on!"

"Louis? I know you're angry and you should be. But I cannot let you go because you're involved now." Aaron told him.

"No, I'm not. I'm not involved in anything!" Louis replied, making Aaron sigh.

"Yes, you are. If you are not with me then you don't know how much danger you are in." He said and Louis looked at him in annoyance.

"Danger? What is more dangerous than being knocked out or shot in the leg by the person who keeps promising to keep me unharmed?" Louis spat, anger clear with every word leaving his mouth. "Honestly? I should've shouted for help the day you went into my room to get clothes for yourself. At least, I'd be back home and you'd be behind the bars. Right where you belong. I was dumb enough to think you'd kill me. I don't care how much danger I'm in. I just don't want to be with you."

"I've told you before how bad an idea it i--" 

"I said I don't care!" 

"But, I do!"

"No, you don't! You wouldn't have shot me, otherwise!" Louis said, raising his voice.

"Louis, for the last time, I did it so they wouldn't arrest me. I apologised, didn't I?" Aaron explained.

"Sorry does not fix the bullet hole in my leg, Aaron! I hate you! You are a murderer! If I didn't stop you yesterday, then you would have hurt Niall, wouldn't you?" Louis snapped, an angry tear rolling down his cheek.

Aaron didn't want to push him any further because he knew Louis was right. He would have done something to stop Niall. Maybe, shoot him in the leg or a bullet in the air as a threat. There was silence for the next few minutes before the door opened and Daniel entered with a tray in his hands. Placing it on the table beside the bed Louis was sitting on, he pulled out a chair and sat down beside the one I was sitting on.

"How's your leg?" He asked Louis.

"Fine." He replied in a hoarse and almost broken voice.

"I thought you'd like some tea. There are sandwiches, too." Daniel said, picking up the plate and walking towards Louis. Louis smiled, slightly, at Daniel's hospitality but realised he wasn't hungry.

"I'm not really hungry." He mumbled and the two of them heard Aaron sigh, heavily.

"Just eat. You haven't eaten since last night." Aaron said in a calm tone but Louis glared at him, not really wanting to hear anything from the man who had kidnapped him. He did realise that he had not eaten since morning and tried to take the plate but realised Aaron had cuffed his right hand to one of the bed posts.

"You really expect me to eat like this?" Louis asked, pulling at the metal restraining his hand, creating a rattling noise.

His eyes glared daggers as Aaron got up and took the plate from Daniel's hand before sitting opposite Louis on the bed. He became more angry at the fact that he was going to be fed like a small child. 

"No, thanks. I'm twenty-two and I know how to eat by myself." Louis stated.

"I'm not going to uncuff you, Louis. I can't have you escaping." Aaron told him.

"Then I'm not eating." Louis said with finality, making Aaron roll his eyes at him.

"Why are you being so annoying?" Aaron asked him.

"I don't know. Maybe someone named Aaron Stone can answer that!" Louis hissed, sarcastically. "I can't even run properly, now. Thanks to you and your bullet!"

"Fine." Aaron said, huffing, before getting up and going over to Louis' hand. He, instinctively, flinched and tried to push Aaron away using his free arm. "Now what? I'm just switching your hands!"

"Don't you dare touch me!" Louis yelled.

"Louis, I--"

"Enough!" Daniel interrupted the two. "You're making it worse, Stone. Just give me the keys to his handcuffs and go sit in the living room. I'll make sure he eats _and_ does not escape."

Aaron hesitated for a second but gave the keys to Daniel before glancing over at an angry Louis and leaving with the slam of the door. Louis, mentally, sighed in relief at the criminal's absence. All he wanted was to stay away from him.

 

* * *

 

"How could you lose him for the second time?" Harry questioned, anger clearly seething through him.

"He shot him in the leg! What else could we do?" Dawson asked back.

"He did what?" Zayn asked, pushing Harry away and stepping closer to listen better.

"He shot him. He could've killed Tomlinson if we didn't do what we did. He had him at gunpoint, for God's sake!" Colton tried to explain.

There was a loud silence across the room as the four of them tried to take in what the officers had to say.

"I still don't understand why he tried to run away from me." Niall whispered. "He acted like he didn't even want to talk to me. Why?"

Colton shrugged in response, unable to come up with a convincing answer to Niall's question.

"Maybe he was forced to run away." Colton guessed.

"But there was no one around him. He was alone. I remember well." Niall explained and Colton couldn't answer further. 

He just sat down and tried to think what to do next.

 

* * *

 

"I don't want to go back into those." Louis complained, silently, as he saw Daniel pick up the handcuffs once his leg was bandaged again and he had changed into fresh clothes.

"I know. But I'm not the one who has an upper hand, you see? It's Aaron." Daniel told him, crouching behind Louis' back and locking his hands behind him. "He's a good person, Louis."

Louis scoffed.

"That's what even I thought." He muttered. "And then he did this and you came into the picture." Louis said, nodding towards his injured leg.

"Come on, let's get you to the car." Daniel said and took Louis' arm, helping him up from the bed and out of the door.

Louis looked around once they were out of the house and wondered why anyone would even like to live in such an isolated place. There were, literally, no houses around the place.

"Can you get rid of the car?" Aaron asked Daniel and that's when Louis noticed that they were going to go in a different one. Daniel nodded in response to Aaron's question before pushing Louis towards Aaron, but he stepped back even before Aaron could take his arm. 

"I'll walk myself." Louis mumbled and Aaron sighed before opening the passenger's door and Louis sat inside, not even sparing a glance at Aaron as he buckled the seat belt into place. 

Minutes later, Aaron got in the driver's seat and the car moved. The ride was awfully silent and the two of them didn't do anything to change that. Aaron found it strange that Louis didn't even bother to ask him where they were going. Normally, he would have. But this time, he was just silent. By the time they reached the outskirts, it was around nine in the night. So, Aaron decided to pull over and maybe break into one of the empty houses in a secluded neighbourhood which consisted of very few houses. Fortunately, he did find an empty house with no signs of activity in or around it so he took it as his cue to get in.

He got out and went over towards Louis' side. He opened the door and found him sleeping, soundly, with a small smile on his face. He was a million times thankful that Louis was asleep and not awake because he would have made it way more difficult for Aaron to get him inside. Sighing, he unbuckled the seat belt before picking the sleeping boy up and walking inside the house he had chosen to crash in for the night.

 

* * *

 

Louis opened his eyes and found himself sleeping on a bed. Initially, he was confused. How did he even get here? But then he realised Aaron must have driven them here. After all, he was tired and had fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of the drive. He wanted to rub his sleepy and groggy eyes but noticed that his hands were still being held behind his back. He saw Aaron sleeping on the couch beside his bed. For some reason, his neck ached so he just laid there, not even attempting to move as he waited for Aaron to wake up and, maybe, unlock the cuffs.

It was almost after a good hour and a half before Louis, finally, heard Aaron groan from his sleeping form on the couch. He watched in silence as Aaron's eyes fluttered open before he lazily sat up and rubbed his face. Within a few seconds, Aaron was up on his feet, stretching himself before glancing towards Louis.

"You're up?" He said, making Louis roll his eyes.

"No. I sleep with my eyes open." Louis retorted, earning a slight chuckle from Aaron. "Where are we?" He asked, his eyes following as Aaron walked over and peeked through the curtains.

"I don't know, really." He replied.

"Stop lying and tell me where we are!" Louis asked in a higher tone.

"Keep your voice down, Louis. There are people around." He heard Aaron say as he closed the blinds and looked at him.

"No, I won't keep my voice down. You have got to stop dragging me around to places like this and just let me go!" Louis yelled, trying to sit up but failed due to the dull pain in his leg and lack of support. But, when Aaron went over to help him he shifted away from his reach. "I don't need your help!"

"Please, Louis, stop being so stubborn." Aaron said, gripping Louis' shoulders and holding him down despite his continuous rants and questions. "Just shut up for a second! I am trying to be as good with you as possible but you're just making it hard for me. I have apologised to you enough number of times but you're just acting so hostile!"

"What else do you expect me to do?" Louis yelled back. "You're not my friend or something, alright? You're just a bloody murderer who broke out of prison and took me hostage against my will. Of course, I will be hostile!"

"I said lower your voice." Aaron said, pressing down further on his shoulders as he tried to squirm out of his grasp.

"Get off me!" Louis yelled, trying to kick him with his good leg but nothing worked. "You know what? You should have shot me in the head yesterday and get rid of me if I'm such a burden to you."

"Trust me, Louis. Going by your behaviour I am more than tempted to do it right now." Aaron replied.

"Then, do it. Just fucking kill me already!" Louis said, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate on anything but Aaron. 

"I cannot. I would've done that long back if you were an ordinary person. But no, you're not. You're fucking famous and so killing you would make a huge difference to everyone. Do you even know what goes on through the minds of the people involved in all the dark businesses? No, you don't. So, please, try to understand. I cannot get rid of you. And I, sure as hell, cannot let you escape because it will cost me everything that is left of mine in this world." He explained and Louis opened his eyes, seeming unconvinced. 

"Just get off me if you're done with your little speech!" Louis yelled again, making Aaron place a hand on his mouth.

"Stop shouting! This is a neighbourhood." Aaron said, pressing his hand harder when Louis tried to shake his head. "Please, Louis. Stop doing this. Will you lower your voice if I remove my hand?" He asked and Louis rolled his eyes before nodding. Aaron sighed, removing his hand and placing it back on Louis' shoulder to hold him down. 

"I want to go home." Louis said in a hoarse whisper, closing his eyes as a tear escaped and slipped down.

"I know you want to, Louis. Even I haven't been home since seven years." Aaron said, voice softening a bit at the sight of the vulnerable boy beneath him.

"How many more times are you going to hurt me before I make it home?" He asked and Aaron couldn't find the words to answer him.

"I promise it will all be over once I kill Eric and the police department agrees to let me go, Louis. I promise." Aaron told him.

"I don't trust your promises anymore." Louis replied, opening his watery blue eyes which seemed lost and broken. "What if they don't agree to let you go?" He asked after a few more seconds.


	11. ELEVEN

Louis didn't resist as Aaron took his hand and, slowly, walked him to the car before opening the door to the passenger's side and he got in. He felt tempted to call out for help since it was a neighbourhood but stopped himself. Why? Even he didn't know. Maybe, for Aaron's daughter. Just when he was relieved that his hands were free, he saw Aaron remove the metal cuffs before locking Louis' hands in front of him.

 _What's the point?_ Louis thought. He could still do a lot of stuff with his hands cuffed in the front but didn't say anything because he didn't want to end up with his hands tied behind, helplessly. Ironically, he was the one who felt like a prisoner and he was pretty sure that Aaron was feeling freer than he ever was.

Once Aaron closed the door and went over to the steering wheel, Louis decided that he wouldn't sleep during this ride since he wanted to at least know where he was being taken. They drove in silence. Without any words being exchanged. Without songs playing from the radio. After a few hours of driving, Aaron pulled over by a small Chinese stall for food before driving again. It was almost another two hours before he finally stopped the car near some kind of a warehouse. Louis, immediately, cringed at the look of the place. It was just like the one Aaron took him to before. He flinched when he heard Aaron open the door for him.

"I don't want to go in there, Aaron. Please." Louis said.

"Louis, you'll be fine. Just come." Aaron said, pulling him to his feet and closing the car door. Louis pushed his hands away using his bound ones and taking a step away from him.

"I don't trust you. You always say I'll be fine and I end up being the exact opposite." He said. "The last time you took me to such a place, you almost let me get killed by Dave."

"But I was the one who saved you, too, wasn't I?" Aaron asked and Louis remained silent. "I am the only one you can trust now, Louis. If it weren't for me then you would have been in Eric's hands by now." 

Louis moved back seeing Aaron step closer.

"No. If it weren't for you, I would have been safe and in my home." Louis snapped.

"Don't think I can't force you inside if you don't cooperate, Louis." Aaron threatened to at least get him to not make it difficult getting him inside.

"I am not going in there, Aaron. I don't want to. Please. I'll stay in the car." Louis begged.

"Staying in the car is worse, Louis. Just come. Nothing will happen to you." Aaron said, grabbing Louis' cuffed hands and pulling him along but he fought back the best he could.

"Please, Aaron. I don't want to go. Don't take me in there, please." Louis pleaded but Aaron ignored him.

He stopped fighting and just let Aaron take him inside. Fixing his gaze on his shoes, he didn't even want to look up at the people around. It was difficult for him to keep up due to the little pain in his leg, making him trip a lot of times but Aaron didn't pay any attention so he decided not to say anything. 

After a few turns, they finally stopped by a door and Aaron opened it before pulling Louis inside. Louis looked up and saw there were around five men who seemed to be in the middle of some kind of a meeting.

Before Louis could resist or say something, Aaron led him to one of the chairs surrounding the table filled with beers and cigarettes. After pushing Louis into one of the chairs, Aaron occupied the one beside him with one hand still holding Louis' cuffed ones. Louis, hesitantly, looked up feeling uncomfortable at the five pairs of eyes looking at him. He turned to look at Aaron who looked back with an expressionless face.

"Hm? I thought it was fake but you did kidnap the guy from the band!" One of the scary-looking men said, removing the cigarette from his lips and dabbing the end to get rid of the ash.

"So, Dave told you?" Aaron asked and Louis felt him slightly squeeze his hands but couldn't understand why. Reassurance? Or a sign to be quiet?

"He did." Another guy said, eyes fixated on Louis as if trying to take in every detail of his personality. "They are looking for him, Aaron. He's all over the news! You'll get us all in trouble."

"You have nothing to worry about. Nothing will go wrong." Aaron assured them but they seemed completely unconvinced. 

"You almost got caught at a club. First by Eric and then by the cops. I've heard about another such situation while you were staying at a house you broke into yesterday. How many more times are you going to escape narrowly, Aaron?" One of them asked, his voice loud and authoritative, sending shivers down Louis' spine.

"What are you getting at?" Aaron asked, unaffected by the sinister voice. 

"You're in loads of trouble, Stone. You know that, too. Escaping prison. Kidnapping a world-famous celebrity. Killing two of Eric's men. What have you not done wrong? Eric isn't just the CEO of a firm anymore, he is much more now. A lot has changed in the six years you were gone, Aaron! He is involved with someone from the Underworld. But we don't know who. He isn't afraid of you anymore. In fact, he plans to get his hands on singer boy you've got there!" He said with piercing, dark orbs glaring at Louis. Louis shifted, uncomfortably, in his seat, not wanting to stay here any longer. "He is nothing but a threat to us and our business, Aaron. I hope you're not planning on letting him go because the consequences could be fatal. He will tell the cops about us and like Dave said, our whole businesses will go down! I say, just hand him to whoever Eric is working for and get everything over with!" The man finished, making Louis' blood run cold just at the thought.

Louis, immediately, turned to look at Aaron in fear but he wasn't even looking at him. Instead, he was just looking at the men sitting ahead.

"And handing him to Eric will do me good?" Aaron asked and Louis was even more scared at his words.

Was Aaron really considering it? Would he just leave him with some other killer?

"Aaron? What are yo--" Louis whispered but stopped when Aaron shushed him with a stern look.

Louis felt angry and disgusted at the person sitting beside him. Tears started stinging his eyes and he, forcefully, pulled his hands away from Aaron's grip.

"You are a horrible person!" Louis exclaimed as Aaron turned to him with a frown on his face.

"What has gotten into you?" Aaron asked grabbing Louis' hands again but he pushed him off.

"Don't touch me!" Louis snapped. "You got me into all this mess and now you're going to just leave me in the hands of a psychopath?! I can't believe you'd even think of th-"

"Louis, calm down!" Aaron said but Louis was in no mood to listen.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Louis yelled at him. "Just stay away from me and let me go! I don't want to go anywhere else with you!" Aaron sighed and, roughly, pulled Louis up from the chair before dragging him over towards a door. "Where are you taking me? Just leave me al--" 

Aaron cut him off by pushing him against a wall and slamming his hand on Louis' mouth before closing the door, once they were in a small and dark room. Louis glared at him before using his hands to pry Aaron's hand off his mouth.

"You weren't supposed to talk in front of them!" Aaron said, using both his hands to hold Louis still against the wall.

"I'm sorry for talking when you were discussing with five dangerous people about sending me off to some other dangerous person!" Louis yelled, sarcastically.

"Louis, I was trying to do something else. I'm not going to send you to anyone! I didn't actually ask them that. I was being sarcastic!" Aaron explained.

"Well, you're, certainly, bad at it. Because it seemed like you were quite interested in the offer!" Louis said, gathering all his strength and pushing Aaron away from him. Aaron, evidently, surprised at the move, stumbled a few steps before standing up straight and looking at Louis. "You promised me you wouldn't let anything happen to me!"

"I know I did! And it's true. I won't let anything happen to you! Now, calm down and please cooperate." Aaron said, going over to Louis, who pushed him away again.

"I don't believe you." Louis spat, seeing Aaron roll his eyes and go over to some kind of a desk, a few steps away from him. "What are you doing?" He asked, backing away when Aaron removed roll of duct tape from one of the cabinets and stepped towards him.

He had no time to register anything before Aaron had him pinned to the floor, on his stomach and Aaron's weight keeping him from moving.

"Aaron, no! What are you doing? Let me go!" Louis said, kicking and squirming to get away but lost his energy in a few seconds. He felt Aaron hold his flailing ankles and wrap the tape around them a generous number of times. Once done, Aaron got off of him and sat on his knees while Louis just laid down glaring at him and trying to regain his breathing.

"I hate you!" Louis said with repugnance before sitting up and trying to dislodge the tape using his hands but Aaron was faster. And before he could do anything, Aaron released his hands from the cuffs before bringing them behind his back.

"Aaron, please, don't do this." Louis begged, feeling tears form in his eyes again as he tried to fight but couldn't. By the time Aaron was done incapacitating him, a tear rolled down Louis' cheek while he tried to, powerfully, pull at his bonds but only ended up hurting himself.

"You're leaving me no choice, Louis." Aaron told him, ripping another piece of tape and reaching over to place it on Louis' lips but he jerked his head back.

"Are you going to let those men take me?" Louis asked him again.

"No, Louis. I won't. I promise." Aaron said, trying to place the tape but Louis resisted again.

"Why are you doing this?" Louis asked, his voice barely a whisper, but Aaron placed the tape over his mouth anyway and he didn't resist. He only looked at Aaron with his sad, blue eyes before flinching as he pressed on the material with his thumbs to stick it as much as possible.

"I'm only doing this so you could stay calm and think about everything again before yelling or kicking at me, Louis." He said in a calm demeanour. "The men outside don't know about my daughter. No one does. Except Dave. So, I cannot tell them that I can't kill you because that way, they will use my only weakness against me. They think killing you is a good idea. But, to me, it is not. It will, probably, be my worst one, Louis. All I'm asking from you is a little cooperation. Just listen to me and do as I say and you'll be fine. You'll be alive and well. And I'll make sure you go back home safe and in one-piece. Please, Louis. Try to think about it. You have no other choice. You are in a situation where you cannot trust anyone but me. And I'm assuring you that you can count on me. Like I always say, I won't hurt you or let anyone else hurt you and I, really, promise that."

Louis just closed his eyes, not knowing what to do as Aaron picked him up in his arms and placed him on a chair in one of the dark corners. Louis looked up at Aaron when he placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"I need to finish the meeting so I'll let you sit here for a while. Promise me you won't try anything." Aaron said and Louis, reluctantly, nodded before Aaron retrieved his hand and left, closing the door.

 _Don't leave me alone._ Louis wanted to say but he had no choice so he just leaned back on his bound hands against the chair and waited for Aaron to return.

 


	12. TWELVE

Louis' head snapped up at the loud noises from outside the door. Gunshots. Screams. Yelling. Footsteps. Everything that was enough to scare him more than he already was. It was the first time he heard something since Aaron left him in here, almost an hour ago. He felt his insides shiver with fear as the noises continued and he only hoped everything was fine and that nothing would happen to him. He trained his eyes on the door, as his breathing was slow and panicked. He wished to see Aaron come and get him out so much at the moment. A few more minutes of the sounds and for a split second, everything was silent before he heard someone speak.

"He's in there!" A muffled voice said.

"Get him." He heard another voice and hoped the two voices weren't talking about him.

He didn't shift his gaze from the door for the next few seconds before almost jumping as the door slammed open and he saw a dark figure approach him. He wished it was Aaron but something told him it wasn't. He struggled to break free from his bonds, cursing Aaron for leaving him tied up and gagged. Not really helping him right now. His breathing became ragged and uneven at his struggles as the person leant down and grabbed Louis' chin with his gloved hand, forcing him to look up before smiling, menacingly.

"Lowell? I got him!" The man announced as another one entered the room.

"Get him to the van. Vincent wants him." The other one ordered before turning and shooting at someone with the weapon in his hand.

Before Louis could even understand what was going on, a black bag went over his head and he thrashed more in his binds. He felt himself being hauled over the man's shoulder and he had started walking. He couldn't even scream or fight back as he was being taken by someone to God-knows-where. And he blamed it all on Aaron. If he hadn't rendered him immobile then he would have done something to fight back or at least call for Aaron. But now it was too late. He could hear the chaos surrounding them as the man carrying him rushed out. Despite knowing he couldn't escape, Louis struggled with all his might, feeling the metal of the handcuffs dig into his skin. But he couldn't care less.

"Go! Fast!" Louis heard the second voice from earlier before a door opening and groaned as his body hit the floor of the van, harshly. "Don't move!" He heard the man say and he stilled. "I'll be back soon. Right now, I've got a Stone to kill." 

Seconds later, the van door closed and Louis was left in silence, completely helpless. He only prayed that they wouldn't kill Aaron. Because as much as he hated to admit, but Aaron was the only one who could save him right now. He tried to rub his head against the floor to try and get the bag off but nothing worked and he only tired himself more. His struggles had drained all the energy left in his muscles and Louis gave up, going limp against his bonds, letting himself give in to his fate.

It was almost after a lot of minutes that he, finally, heard the van door open and he was picked up into a pair of arms again before the person started running. He started to thrash against the grip but it felt gentle. Aaron? he brushed the thought away and continued to fight against the person but, eventually, gave up. He could hear all the horrible noises from before and closed his eyes, feeling tears soak the bag over his head.

What was going to happen to him?

"Put him in the back. He'll be safe and we can avoid him from being shot." A voice said. A familiar voice. But Louis couldn't make out where he had heard it before. Just then, he heard another gunshot but it wasn't followed by any scream. "We don't have time! Just put him in there. We'll get him out once we reach somewhere safer!"

Soon, he felt himself being placed on something hard. He didn't recognise the place until he heard the slam of something that sounded like a car door and realisation hit him as the place started moving. He was in the boot of a car. Panicking more, he, frantically, kicked the insides of the cramped place until his muscles were screaming for him to stop. So, he gave into his situation and just lied down, trying to regain his steady breathing while tears streamed down his face, uncontrollably. The bag over his head was suffocating him. Or was it just his fear and panic? He didn't know. All he knew was that he was, probably, the unluckiest person in the world. Five days back, he wouldn't even have thought such a thing could possibly happen to him. Because he was a  _celebrity._

After what felt like only a few minutes of driving, he heard complete silence. No more screams. No more guns being fired. No more chaos. Just the sound of the car's engine. Even that sound died a few seconds later and he heard two door open before footsteps approaching. His first instinct was to try and curl into himself as much as he could in his bound form before the door was opened and he felt a gush of cool air against his sweaty and tense skin. He was picked up and carried to the backseat and the bag was, finally, pulled up.

Louis groaned and squinted his eyes at the sudden blinding light and tried to regain his vision and he was glad he did. He saw two people standing in front of him. And he knew them both. Steve and  _Aaron._ He had never been more happier upon seeing his kidnapper.

"Are you alright?" Aaron asked, with nothing but concern written over his features and Louis nodded before closing his eyes and, mentally, thanking Aaron for saving him. Aaron grabbed the end of the tape on his mouth and peeled it off as Louis whimpered at the sting.

"Thank you." Louis whispered but Aaron just nodded in acknowledgement while Steve bent down with a knife and removed the tape over his ankles.

Once Aaron had released his hands, he took them into his and noticed the faint lacerations due to his struggles.

"That is why I tell you not to struggle in handcuffs." Aaron mumbled but Louis took him by surprise as he wrapped his hands around Aaron's shoulders and rested his head on his chest while Aaron could feel his tears soak his shirt. Louis was crying, uncontrollably, while whispering hushed  _thank you'_ s in between heavy breaths.

"I'm so sorry that I left you like that, Louis. I won't do it again." Aaron said before pulling the brown-haired boy's smaller hands away from him. "But you're fine. I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

The two of them didn't say anything as Aaron stood up straight and let Steve get in with Louis before closing the door and going over to the driver's seat.

 

* * *

 

"Where can we go?" Aaron asked, looking at Steve through the rear-view mirror. 

Even Aaron had no idea where he was driving but he just kept going. He wanted to save Louis from whoever was behind him and save himself from the cops.

"Keep driving. I know a place a few miles away. That ought to keep us safe for a couple of days." Steve replied, turning to look at Louis who had been awfully silent, staring blankly at the empty road they were on.

"You got any leads on who Eric is working for?" Aaron asked and Steve shrugged.

"No. Nothing yet. Although, there are people working on it. It has got to be someone big and powerful." He said.

"Vincent." They heard Louis whisper, looking at Aaron.

"What?" Aaron asked and Louis nodded.

"I heard one of them say . . t-that someone named Vincent wants me." Louis told them and Aaron gave a confused look at Steve from the mirror.

"Who's Vincent?" Aaron asked him, not moving his eyes from the road while Steve looked like he was thinking hard to recollect.

"I don't know but I'll let Will know. He might extract something useful." He said, removing his phone and texting, probably, to Will.

Almost a half hour of driving, Aaron stopped the car to go and get some parcelled food for them as Louis and Steve waited in silence.

"You can talk to me, you know? I won't eat you." Louis heard Steve say from his end of the seat, after a few seconds, and turned to look at him.

"You're . . still a bit scary to me." Louis whispered, looking down at his shoes.

"I am a fan of your band. You know that?" Steve said again, trying make a little conversation and make Louis feel at least a bit comfortable around him.

"You are?" Louis asked and he nodded.

"Of course! I've got all three albums of yours. Even the latest one. What's it called?" He mumbled, almost to himself.

" _Midnight Memories._ " Louis said and Steve smiled.

"Yeah! That one! So, you're making a new one?" Steve asked.

"We're working on it. But not until I'm stuck here." Louis muttered, silently.

"You know that you'll be going home, right?" Steve said and Louis looked at him with a spark of hope in his blue eyes. "You're not going to be _stuck_ here forever. Nothing will happen to you. If Aaron promised that, then he'll keep it. He's going to let you go."

"Really?" Louis asked him.

"Yes. I don't lie. At least, I try not to. But, really, I'm not lying right now. He told me he's gonna let you go." Steve said and Louis felt hopeful after a lot of time. "Oh, by the way, I think you're my favourite member, too!" He said after a few seconds and Louis, unknowingly, chuckled.

But his mind was still full of questions. If he was really going to go home, then, when? He wanted to know but at the same time, didn't. But at least, he knew he'd go home. He would see his family. He would see his friends. He would have his life again. The one he loved and hated at the same time. And it felt good to know that he was going back. A few more minutes passed and Aaron, finally, returned with a couple of bags and handed them to Steve before driving again. They reached a secluded farmhouse that Steve guided them to, almost at midnight.

Louis was already feeling sleepy and didn't want to walk all the way from the car to the house but he had no choice so he let Steve help him walk till they reached a room. Without even removing his shoes, Louis plopped down on the bed and let Steve cuff his hand to the bedpost and soon enough, drifted off to sleep.

 

* * *

 

_Gotta get down on Friday_

_Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend_

_Friday, Friday_

_Gettin' down on Friday_

_Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend_

Louis, slowly, opened his eyes at the, might he say, awfully out of tune voice. It, sure as hell, wasn't Rebecca Black. He lazily rubbed his eyes and sat up, noticing that his hand wasn't restrained anymore. He rubbed his face and got out of the bed before making his way out. Aaron was nowhere to be seen but Steve was in the kitchen, trying to cook as he sang and danced to the song playing on the radio. 

"Good morning." He heard someone say and almost jumped before seeing Aaron enter through the front door. "Relax, it's just me. How did you sleep?" He asked, sitting down in one of the chairs from the dining table before motioning Louis to join him at the table.

"Good." Louis said, sitting down before cringing as Steve tried to hit a high note. He'd, definitely, like to hear Niall do one rather than Steve.

"He's not a professional one like you, you see?" Aaron said and Louis shrugged as Steve came up to them, balancing three plates with burnt toasts and Aaron made a weird face at the food.

"That's the best I can do." Steve defended himself. "You can't even boil water, you hypocrite!"

Aaron just groaned and started eating whatever was served while Louis didn't even want to try. He just drank the water from his glass before turning his attention to what was playing on the radio when Steve turned the volume up a bit more. And he felt more bad when  _Midnight Memories_ started playing. Aaron looked confused as Steve gave a sympathetic look to Louis. 

"What happened?" Aaron asked Louis, who looked up instantly.

"I . . miss my friends." He whispered before, quickly, looking back down.

"Would you feel better if I let you talk to one of them?" Aaron asked and both, Louis and Steve looked at him with a surprised expression.

"What?" Louis exclaimed and Aaron nodded.

"That's the least I can do." He said and Louis smiled, feeling extremely happy. "Who would you like to call?" Aaron asked and Louis thought for a few seconds before answering.

"Can I call my mum?" He asked, expectantly but frowned when Aaron shook his head  _no._

"No. No family. They are always overprotective and end up telling the police." He replied, bluntly and Louis nodded. "Either it's one of your bandmates or no one."

"Niall." Louis said. "I want to talk to Niall."


	13. THIRTEEN

Niall was sound sleep in the hotel room he was sharing with Liam in California. It was a bit disturbed, yet peaceful. Until he woke up to his phone buzzing on the bedside table. 

"Liam?" He called out, sleepily, to get his friend to answer it but there was no response. "Liam?" He said again opening his eyes and looking around to see that Liam had just come out of the bathroom.

"What?" Liam asked, every bit as sleepy as Niall.

"Nothing." Niall muttered before sitting upright and picking up his phone as Liam sat back on the adjacent bed. Niall unlocked the phone and rubbed his sleepy eyes to look at the name. And when he did, he almost dropped his phone.

It was  _Louis Tomlinson._

"Ni, what happened?" Liam asked, seeing his friend's shocked expression but Niall didn't respond as he answered the call without any hesitation. He listened, intently, for any sound but the person on the other side of the line was silent.

"Louis?" Niall asked after a few seconds of the unbearable silence and is almost relieved as he hears the voice he wanted to.

"Niall." Louis says into the phone and Niall lets out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

"Louis? How are you, mate?" Niall says, smiling, as he looks at Liam who looks confused as hell.

"I'm fine, Niall. How are you?" He heard Louis.

"I wouldn't worry abo--" Niall started but Louis interrupted him.

"Niall? Is there someone else around you?" Louis asked and scrunched his eyebrows looking up at Liam.

"I'm calling Dawson." Liam whispered before getting up to leave the room.

"Just Liam. Why?" He asked back, seeing Liam disappear to the adjacent room where Dawson was staying with his roommates.

"T-There are no cops, right?" He asked again.

"No. No, Louis. But why?" Niall asked and something in the way Louis asked made him wonder if they'd do something to him if the cops were involved. And he, instantly, regretted not stopping Liam from going out.

"I-I just . . asked." Louis replied and Niall's head, immediately, snapped up as the door opened revealing Liam along with Dawson and his assistant, carrying a laptop along with some wires and a set of headphones.

Niall raised his hand to tell them to stop before doing something everyone might regret but Dawson only gave him a calm look that said everything would be taken care of.

"We'll be tracing the call." His assistant whispered as he pinned something into Niall's phone before setting things up with the laptop and put on the headphones, giving a thumbs up and motioning Niall to speak.

"Niall?" Louis said again and he couldn't find the words to reply. 

What if those people find out? What if they harm Louis again?

"Keep him from hanging up for at least a minute." Dawson whispered and Niall nodded before speaking again.

"Louis? Are you alright?" Niall asked, his voice shaking but tried to sound as normal as possible.

"I'm sorry, Niall." He heard Louis whisper and scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

"Why?" He asked him and there was silence for a few seconds before Louis answered.

"I- The other day, I . . ran away from you. I didn't mean to, Ni. I was just scared and . . al-"

"It's okay, Louis. I'm not angry." Niall said and turned to Dawson and his assistant, sensing that he was listening into their conversation. "But . . why? Why did you run? You . . you could've come home, Louis."

"I know." Louis whispered. "But I couldn't. I'm sorry."

"Please stop apologising." Niall said. "Why did you call, Louis? Are they making you do th-?"

"No." Louis cut him off. "I just . . wanted to talk to you. And they let me. How are the others, Niall?"

"Good." Niall answered. "Everyone misses you, Louis."

"My mum and sisters? El?" Louis asked.

"You don't want to know, Lou. They . . we told them and . . your mom and Eleanor were-well, they cried a lot an-forget it, Louis. How are  _you_?" Niall asked for the third time because he knew Louis was lying about being fine.

"I'm fine, Niall. I told you."

"How's your head . . they didn't do anything else, did they, Louis?" Niall asked again and Louis remained silent for the next few seconds.

"No. They didn't do anything." Louis answered in a low voice, reluctantly. 

"Stop lying, Louis. We know he shot you in the leg. Are you even alright?" Niall asked again, feeling tears blur his vision.

"I am, Niall. nothing happened to me. H-He took me to a doctor. I'm f-fine." Louis replied and Niall sensed a hint of fear in his voice but he didn't push any further.

"We'll bring you back home, Louis. I promise." Niall said. He could hear Louis sniffling from the other side and let a tear roll down his cheek.

There was silence for a few more seconds and Niall cringed hearing a shrill but short beep in between the line. He turned to look at Dawson's assistant and saw him hurriedly typing away on the laptop. Even Dawson and Liam were busy staring at whatever was on the screen.

"Niall?" Louis' voice snapped him out of the trance and he concentrated on the call again. "I was ju-"

"They are tracing the call!" Niall heard a distant voice say and fear, instantly, rushed through him. 

"Lou-" 

"Niall? There is no one around you, right?" Louis asked in what Niall sensed was a panicked tone.

"N-No." Niall stuttered before turning to look at the other three present in the room.

 _Stop tracing._ He mouthed to Dawson and when he didn't understand, he removed the phone and covered the receiver with his hand.

"Stop tracing the call. They know! Stop tracing!" He whispered in panic before putting the phone back to his phone. "Louis? What happened?"

"Niall, no one's tracing the call, are they?" Louis asked again.

"No! Nobody is, Louis! No." Niall told him, shooting a glare at Dawson, asking him to stop.

"End the call, Louis! End the call!" Niall heard another voice say in the background but the call didn't get disconnected.

"No. Nothing is wrong! Nobody is tracing i-!" He heard Louis say but was cut off by the previous voice.

"Just end the goddamn cal-!" The voice yelled and Niall felt his heart sink as the call got cut and the line went silent. 

The phone slipped from his shaking hand and, for a second, he couldn't even think anything at the thought of Louis getting further hurt.

"They hung up!" He heard the assistant say, without looking away from the screen and removing the headphones.

"Try something! We should've gotten somewhere close!" Dawson exclaimed and Niall glared at him in anger.

"This is all your fault!" Niall yelled, getting up and rushing towards him. "I told you! I told you to stop tracing! I fucking told you!!" He repeated with angry tears, grabbing Dawson's collar but he remained calm and unaffected. He just let him remove his frustration. "It's your fault! They're going to hurt him and it's all because of you!"

Before Niall could do anything else, Liam reached out and pulled him away from Colton, wrapping his arms around Niall's angry and shivering form in an attempt to calm him down.

"Mr. Horan? Just calm down. We are close to getting the location." Colton said, calmly, but Niall just stared at him in raging anger.

Liam managed to hold him back and walk him over to his bed. Sitting Niall on it, he knelt down in front of him.

"Niall? Calm down, please. We're going to know where he is. Isn't that good?" Liam said and Niall looked at him with teary eyes.

"But they . . they're going to hurt him, Lia-"

"They won't. They won't!" Liam told him but Niall just shook his head.

"You weren't there! You weren't there at the club, Liam! He-He pushed him against the door. Louis . . he hurt Louis and . . and he had a gun to his head!" Niall kept ranting and Liam felt miserable not being to help, so he pulled him into a warm hug.

"Did you get it?" Colton asked, turning his attention back to his assistant.

"Not the exact coordinates 'cause they, probably, switched off the phone. But they are in Tucson and I can say that with a full guarantee."

 

* * *

 

"End the call, Louis! End the call!" Aaron said but Louis wasn't convinced. Why would Niall lie to him? But, also, why would he tell whether they were tracing it or not?

"No. Nothing is wrong! Nobody is tracing i-!" Louis said but stopped as soon as Aaron got up and approached him.

"Just end the goddamn call!" Aaron yelled and Louis flinched as the phone was snatched from his hands and Aaron hurled it at the wall, creating a noise that confirmed it had successfully broken.

"Why did you do that?" Louis whispered, looking at Aaron.

"They were tracing the bloody call!" Aaron said.

"No, they weren't! Niall told me there was no one with him!" Louis replied in a higher tone.

"He was lying!" Aaron tried to explain. "All of us, clearly, heard the beep. And we know enough to know whether a line is being traced or not, Louis! Try to understand!"

"Aaron?" Steve said from his chair. "This isn't the time to argue. They must've tracked our location by now. We need to leave!" 

Aaron sighed and tried to think what to do next when Steve intervened again.

"We can stay at a hotel until tomorrow. Until Will finds something about Vincent." He suggested and Aaron shook his head.

"Everyone knows I'm wanted. We can't stay in public places." Aaron said.

"It's my friend's Aaron. Just put on some shades and make-up, the two of you and no one will know."

 

* * * 

 

"Will called an hour ago." Steve said, joining Louis and Aaron by the couch. Aaron was watching the news while Louis was forced to sit there with no choice since his leg was cuffed to that of the chair he was sitting on.

"What did he find out?" Aaron asked him, finally, shifting his eyes from the news story about Louis going missing.

"Eric doesn't work for Vincent. They work together. Eric finds clients for Vincent's businesses and in return, Vincent ensures Eric is safe and away from you." Steve replied and Aaron seemed confused.

"What do they have to do with Louis?" Aaron asked again and Aaron shrugged.

"Eric wants you alive so he can kill you himself. Now, you have Louis and Eric knows that you are human enough to spare an innocent life so maybe it is his way to get you to surrender." Steve answered and Louis felt uncomfortable, not really wanting to listen anymore. 

"What will he do to me?" Louis asked after a few seconds of silence.

"He won't do anything! Because I will not let him, Louis. Don't worry. You're safe with us." Aaron assured him but he was still scared. "Where is he now?" Aaron asked Steve.

"Will said that he took a flight to London this morning." Steve said and Aaron turned to look at him.

"What?!" He exclaimed and Steve nodded in response.

"Why? What happened, Aaron?" Steve asked as he saw Aaron get up from the couch.

Immediately, Aaron rushed to the hotel phone and dialled someone. Steve looked confused but Louis understood why Aaron was panicking.

Sharon.

She is in London. That's what Dave had told him the last time. He heard Aaron curse before hanging up and grabbing the bag they had brought with them.

"Aaron? What the fuck is wrong?" Steve asked as he saw Aaron pace around while trying to pack up.

"We need to get to London!" He replied, bending down to release Louis' ankle before pulling him up from the chair. "Now!" He said again, shoving Louis towards Steve and started rushing out.

"But why?" Steve asked as he pulled Louis along by his arm.

"I'll tell you on the way."


	14. FOURTEEN

Aaron had, somehow, managed to get the three of them to London in the earliest flight despite the heavy security and checking at the airport. Somewhere, when they were waiting at the airport, Louis hoped that the cops would recognise either him or Aaron so he could go home. But nothing happened. At least, he knew that people were looking him. Even cops in America were searching for him. And that gave him some hope.

However, he was happier that they were in London and that he can finally have some more hope. But he didn't understand why Aaron even bothered to tag Louis along, knowing fully well that this was the place he lives. The place where people know him the best. And the place where cops must be madly searching for him.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he realised the car came to a halt and he looked around to see they were outside a small house which was situated away and Louis guessed that these were the outskirts of the city.

He saw Aaron get down along with Steve who opened the door on Louis' and took his arm before pulling him along as Aaron walked ahead and they followed. They stood on the front porch steps as Aaron hesitated for a few seconds before bringing his hand up and ringing the doorbell while he rubbed his nose nervously.

A woman, probably, in her early-thirties answered the door a few seconds later. She looked at Aaron with a wide smile before glancing nervously at Steve who still had a hold on Louis.

"Jenny, he i--" Aaron started but the woman, Jenny, cut him off.

"I know. I saw the news." She said, before looking around as if to check no one's listening to them. "Come in."

Aaron looked at Steve before, briefly, glancing at Louis and nodded at them to walk inside. Steve led Louis inside to the couch in the living room and let him sit before sitting beside him. Aaron sat in the arm chair while Jenny wasn't there anymore. They sat in silence for the next few seconds before a childish, high-pitched voice broke it.

"Dad!" She exclaimed and Louis saw an elated look on Aaron's face as he rushed to pull her into his arms.

"Sharon!" He said, picking her up and kissed her cheek.

"I missed you, dad!" She said as he smiled and ran a hand through her hair.

Louis couldn't help but notice how Sharon had the same black hair and features he had seen in Sherley's pictures back at Aaron's house. Steve was completely shocked as he didn't even know Aaron's daughter existed until now. Seconds later, her eyes glanced back and she looked at Louis on the couch before gasping in surprise.

"You brought Louis Tomlinson!" She said, looking at Aaron and he turned to Louis, raising an eyebrow at him while Louis only shrugged in response.

"Even my daughter knows you and I don't!" He said, setting her back on her feet as she rushed towards Louis.

"Hi." Louis mumbled, chuckling as she touched his face as if to see if he was real.

"You're real! I saw you on TV today!" She said and he smiled. "You came to meet me?"

Louis looked up at Aaron before turning back to her and answering with a happy nod.

"You are the best dad ever!" Sharon yelled, looking back at Aaron before turning to Louis again.

"I doubt it." Aaron muttered, almost to himself but Jenny heard him.

For the briefest moment, Louis felt like he was free from tensions and the fact that he was kidnapped and being kept away from home. Because right now, he just wanted to be happy.

 

* * *

 

"What? What do you mean it's vacant?" Niall asked. "You said you had the location!"

"We did. And we went there. But they already left." Colton answered calmly. "We found a broken phone. Guess it's Tomlinson's."

"Well, then, where'd they go?" Zayn asked and Colton shook his head.

"We don't know. They should be somewhere around Tucson. We have tried our best to inform the police department of the state and with the kind of security, they shouldn't have gotten far. This has become a priority case. You guys don't have to worry. Perhaps, it would be better if you guys returned to London."

"We are not going anywhere! Not until it is to go back with Louis!" Niall said but Harry placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"We understand, Mr. Dawson." He said, ignoring the glare Niall shot at him.

"We'll make all arrangements and you can leave when the next plane flies out of here. Start packing if you have to." Dawson says and the three of them nod while Niall just sighs, brushing Harry's hand off before storming back to his room.

 

* * *

 

Opening the tap, Louis splashed the warm water on his face once he was done shaving the little stubble that had grown on his face before taking a towel and wiping it. Looking up, he observed his reflection in the clean mirror. He didn't look anything like a person who was kidnapped almost a week back by a, supposedly, dangerous criminal. He looked almost the same. Except for the faint cut on his forehead, his face was the same. He couldn't even believe it had been a week since he had been home. Since he had been snatched away from his everyday life.

But, despite, his good and healthy state, he didn't wish to stay with Aaron any longer. He just wanted to run away from him. And knowing that they were in London, only made it worse. He had complied to Aaron's requests and had become docile since somewhere he did trust Aaron with the promises of sending him back home safely. But, sometimes, Aaron's persona tended to scare him. No matter what, he was still the person who had brutally killed people before, though it was for his wife. He was still the person who was keeping him here against his will. He was still the person who had shot him.

Brushing off all the thoughts in his head, he turned to look at the window in the bathroom. It was small but still big enough to fit him. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the temptation to jump out of it and just go get some help for himself. But something pulled him towards it. He walked over to the window and moved the curtain aside. He looked out seeing nothing but tall and dense trees in sight. Even if he did go out, how long will he be able to make it? He didn't even know which part of the city this was. How long will he go until he gets lost? And what if Aaron decided not to come after him and he just gets lost in what looked like endless stretch of woods?

But what if he does make it out? He could go back home. See his family again. See his friends. His bandmates. Eleanor. The feeling was overwhelming.

Maybe he could wait until Aaron decides to let him go. But what if he fails? What if Eric outsmarts him? Would he be stuck in this dark and filthy side of the world forever? He shook his head again to pry off all the scary thoughts. Why was he so distracted?

He almost jumped at a soft knock on the door and, immediately, pulled the curtains back.

"Louis? You in there?" He heard Steve's voice ask.

"Y-Yes." He said, going over to open the door.

"Oh, good Lord! How do you look so fucking good when you shave?" Steve asked and Louis didn't know how to respond to that. "My face looks like a potato when I do!" He said, again, making Louis chuckle. "By the way, we're going to a park!"

"Park?" Louis asked, confusedly, as he walked towards bed to put on the pair of Converse he had been wearing since the day he was taken. Normally, he would've hated to wear a pair of footwear for more than three days but he had no choice right now.

"Yeah. Sharon was nagging him about it since we came yesterday and he finally agreed. He thought of letting you stay here, with me for safety in case. Actually, I suggested that but then he said  _'It's okay, Steve. He could enjoy some fresh air!'_ " He replied.

Louis nodded but wondered how weird Aaron is. Does he not know how much Louis wants to escape? Why would he even want to take him out?

Louis sighed, anyway, once he was done tying up the shoelaces and followed Aaron out of the room. 

 

* * * 

 

"I don't get why people are so obsessed with your band!" Steve exclaimed and Louis rolled his eyes for the millionth time.

He looked around, trying to search for Aaron anywhere since he had left him with Steve ever since they got here and had gone somewhere along with Sharon and Jenny. Sitting here on the park bench with Steve's constant chattering was pure torture for him. He couldn't even take another second of it. _And people call Louis talkative?_

"You said even you are obsessed." Louis told him, repeating what Steve had said a few seconds ago.

"Yes! Exactly! Why? I mean, what is it about you guys?" He asked again and Louis just shrugged in reply.

Another few minutes of the, might he say, stupid talking and Louis finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Aaron approach them. But something about Aaron's expression wasn't pleasant as if there was something wrong. He seemed in a hurry.

"Steve? I need you to come with me!" Aaron said as soon as he approached them.

"Why? What happened?" Steve asked in reply, standing up to his feet.

"Just come! I need a favour." He replied before shifting his eyes towards Louis, who looked confused.

"What happened?" Louis asked, softly and Aaron hesitated before speaking.

"I need you to stay right here, okay? Don't go anywhere, Louis. Just stay here." Aaron said and Louis looked even more confused. Something about Aaron's expression made him scared since he could see Aaron was worried. "Okay?" He asked again and Louis, reluctantly, nodded.

"Wh-What happened?" Louis asked again.

"I'll tell you later, Louis. Right now, I need to go. So, you promise me that you'll stay right here." Aaron said, bending down to pull the hood of Louis' jacket over his head.

"Why?" Louis whispered and Aaron just sighed before patting Louis' head and standing up. "Don't leave me here. I'm . . I'm scared." Louis said and Aaron's tense body seemed to soften a bit but soon enough, regained its composure.

"You'll be fine, Louis. Just stay right here and you'll be fine. Just don't go anywhere, alright? Please. I'll be right back." He assured him and Louis nodded, slightly, before watching the two of them leave as Aaron kept telling something to Steve.

 _He'd be fine if he doesn't leave_ , he repeats Aaron's words in his head but he was scared, nonetheless. Resting his elbows on his knees, he tried to wrap his arms around himself as if to tell that he'd be alright. Why did Aaron leave so suddenly? What was going on? He sighed and tried to shake out all the questions in his head and looked around, cautiously for anything suspicious. But with his mindset, situation and the way Aaron's voice sounded, everything was suspicious to him. 

He could see Aaron in the distance, only able to make out because he hadn't shifted his gaze at the two of them. He saw Steve nod at something Aaron had said and leave and a while later, Aaron was ushering Jenny and Sharon into a cab. Later, he saw Aaron call someone while eyes were still stuck at the cab. For a brief second, Aaron met Louis' eye and gave him a reassuring look before motioning him to  _stay right there. What is happening?_ Louis thought again as he saw Aaron pull out his phone and call someone. Minutes later, suddenly, he heard a voice that scared him at first and he snapped his head towards the source.

"Lou?"


	15. FIFTEEN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I haven't been so active these days..so a longer chapter. Hope you guys like it!

"Lou?"

Louis turned to the person and saw someone he knew, wearing a beanie and shades before removing them. He felt like it was a dream. He almost couldn't believe his eyes. Because it was the way too familiar pair of green eyes and curly, brown hair looking back at him.

"Harry?" He exclaimed, seeing the other one smile in delight. 

"Louis!" Harry exclaimed, rushing over and hugging his friend as if his whole life depended on it.

Louis swallowed thickly and turned to look at Aaron but, fortunately, Aaron was still busy with the phone call and his attention wasn't at him. He hesitated for a second before wrapping his arms around Harry and pulling him closer, his feelings completely overwhelming him.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" Louis asked, panicking, as he pulled away from him.

"What are _you_ doing here, Louis? W-We thought you were in America!" Harry said. "But you're here!"

Louis glanced towards Aaron again who was still occupied with the call and turned back to Harry.

"You shouldn't be here, Harry. Y-You should go home." Louis told him, his voice shaking with both, the feeling of delight and fear at the same time.

"No! You can come home with me, Louis. Let's go!" Harry said, reaching for his hand but was taken aback when he saw Louis flinch at the move. Louis noticed the hurt in Harry's eyes and felt bad at his instinct.

"I'm s-sorry, Haz." He apologised. "But I can't come with you. You should . . you should go."

"Why are you doing this, Louis?" Harry asked him. "You did this with Niall, too. If you would've just come back that day, then, wouldn't things be more simpler?"

"They wouldn't. They would've been more complicated. Except, you wouldn't have been affected by that." Louis replied, looking around to make sure Aaron wasn't nearby.

"What are you talking, Lou?" Harry asked, standing up from the bench. "Just come with me!" He said, taking Louis' wrist and pulling up with a, surprisingly, tight grip. Louis stumbled but managed to catch his footing.

"I cannot, Harry! Try to understand!" Louis exclaimed, snatching his hand away from Harry's, making the younger boy turn to him in surprise. 

"What is wrong, Louis?" Harry asked, sounding almost close to breaking down. "Don't you want to come home?" 

"I want to, Harry. But I cannot. Please understand." Louis explained. "Now, go. Go before someone sees you!" He said, gently, pushing Harry away from him.

"No, Louis. I always listen to you. But, this time, I won't. You are coming with me and that's final." Harry said before taking Louis' hand again and pulling him along as he tried to make his way back to wherever he had parked his car.

"No, Harry! No! What are you doing? I can't come with you!" Louis protested, pulling at his hand but Harry's grip tightened, almost hurting him now.

Harry didn't listen and, fortunately, there weren't many people around since it was still the early hours of the day so they didn't gather any audience. But that was the least of Louis' concerns because all he knew was that he couldn't leave. If he got back home, then, Sharon's life would be in danger and if he didn't and Aaron found him, then Harry would be in danger. He couldn't let this happen.

Aaron, being done with his phone call with Steve, turned to glance to the place where he had left Louis but panicked when he wasn't there. He creased his eyebrows and looked around. Where could he go? He was there moments ago, wasn't he? After a few seconds, his eyes searched towards the alleyway that connected the park to the small lake behind and something caught his eye. A blue jacket in struggling motion. Wasn't that what Louis was wearing?

 _Shit,_ Aaron thought as he rushed across the park to get to Louis, thinking he was in trouble.

By the time Louis had snapped out of his thoughts, Harry had dragged him to an alley and Louis was confused as to where it was. How did he even find an alley near the small park? He gave one last pull at his hand and Harry finally released it, turning back to look at him with teary eyes.

"Why are you doing this, Louis? Why can't you just come home? It's been a week!" Harry exclaimed but Louis just shook his head.

"I can't, Harry. I just can't! You don't understand! You shouldn't be here. Go before you get both of us in trouble! Just go!" Louis said with tears and Harry looked back with a mix of anger, concern and hurt. "Go, Harry! Please!" Louis cried, pushing Harry again. But, this time, with more force.

Harry stumbled a few steps before standing straight again and shaking his head as he walked towards Louis, who tried to back away.

"Louis? What happened to you?" Harry asked, placing his hands on his older bandmate's shoulders to hold him where he was. "Who is making you do this? Tell me. Tell me why you can't come."

"I cannot tell you, Harry! Just go!" Louis coaxed, removing Harry's hands from his shoulders. "I will come back home. I promise." He said, the last two words barely a whisper.

Harry only stared back at him in confusion and concern.

"Why?" He asked again, in a voice that seemed on the edge of a breakdown.

"I can't tell you. But I will come home. I promise, Haz. Now, go! Go!" Louis said, weakly, trying to push Harry's tall and lanky figure away from him. "Please, Harry. Go."

"Why do you want me to go?" Harry asked him in a low and calm voice.

"Because I don't want you to get harmed. Go, Harry. Please." Louis whispered, burying his face in his hands to hide the tears that were streaming down his face.

"Lou?" He heard Harry call but he didn't look up. "Louis, look at me." Harry said, going over and wrapping the older boy into another warm hug. "Just come with me and this whole thing will be over. You'll be safe."

"I am safe." Louis said, his voice muffled by his hands. "I can't put you in danger, Harry. Please listen to me. Just go. And I'll come back. Just, not now." He said and Harry wasn't convinced.

"The boys will kill me if I leave you here." Harry mumbled, closing his eyes as he felt a tear escape his eye.

Louis was so overwhelmed with the feeling of meeting his friend while Harry was so occupied in coaxing him to return home that they almost didn't notice the person approaching them, until Louis gasped as someone suddenly pulled him away from Harry. Louis' fear doubled as he turned around to see Aaron.

"Where do you think you're going, Louis? I told you to stay right there, didn't I?" Aaron asked, pushing him against the wall. "And who are you? What do you want?" He asked, turning to Harry with his gun pointed at the terrified, curly-haired boy. 

Harry tried to speak but nothing seemed to come out as he was scared out of his wits.

"Who are you?" Aaron asked again, raising his tone. "Do you work for Eric? Vince-?"

"He's Harry!" Louis said, hurriedly. "He's my bandmate." He added, looking at Aaron with a look that asked him not to hurt Harry.

"Well, you have a great record of having your bandmates drop every now and then, don't you?" Aaron said before placing the gun to Louis' head and turning to Harry. "Now, have you come here with the police or someone?"

"No." Harry managed to answer. "I-I came here alone."

"I hope you're not lying. 'Cause it's your friend's life, we're talking about." Aaron said, removing the gun's safety, making Louis whimper.

"No, I came alone. Don't . . don't do anything to him. Please." Harry pleaded, raising his hands in the air.

"Then, just go back home, kid! Unless you want your friend to die." Aaron said but Harry didn't move.

"Look, we can talk about this. Just l-let Louis go and we won't tell anyone." Harry tried to reason, earning a chuckle from Aaron.

"You really think that's what I want? Go home and tell those cops to stop coming after me. Then, you're all welcome to take Louis back home." He replied. "Come on! I know you care about him a lot."

"Please. Just let him go. I won't go without him." Harry said, which further annoyed Aaron, making him tighten his grip on Louis' collar.

"Harry? Just do as he says." Louis said, not even trying to fight against Aaron's grip because he didn't want Harry to get hurt. "Please." He added, barely whispering.

"I'm sorry, Lou. But I can't." Harry replied, stepping towards them.

"Don't step any further, curly!" Aaron threatened, pushing Louis against the wall again and pressing the gun to the middle of his head as Louis closed his eyes while Harry stopped dead in his tracks. "I am not joking. I hurt him once and I can do it again!"

"Harry! Just go!" Louis said, fear rising inside him as he could still feel the cold metal against his forehead.

"Aaron?" Steve called, arriving once he was done getting the car as Aaron had asked but froze as he saw the scene. "What are you doing?" He asked, giving a concerned look towards Louis who was shivering with fear.

"Steve? Could you do me another favour and just put the stupid bandmate to sleep?" Aaron said without removing his eyes from Louis while Steve nodded and went back to get something.

"No. Please, don't hurt him." Louis whispered and Aaron smiled, warmly, before replying.

"I won't, Louis. Even you know that. I'm just putting him out of our way." Aaron said in a low voice, low enough for only Louis to hear.

"What do you mean by putting out of the way?" Louis asked again but Aaron didn't answer.

"Let him go." They heard Harry say again.

"Are those the only words you know?" Aaron asks, annoyed as he turns to look at Harry. But in one swift and sudden movement, he feels a pair of hands push him away, making him hit his back harshly to the opposite wall.

Aaron, evidently, taken aback looks at Louis who was standing in front of him as if ready to fight.

"You learnt some moves, didn't you?" Aaron said.

"I won't let you hurt him, Aaron. You can do whatever you want to me. But don't hurt Harry. He doesn't belong here." Louis said in a calm demeanour.

"I told you I won't hurt him. I'm ju-" Aaron said walking towards Louis again but he cut him off.

"Stay back." Louis said.

"Oh, come on, Louis. You know you cannot beat me. And both of us know that I won't fight you. Because I don't want to hurt you, Louis!" Aaron said, going towards him as Louis backed away but Aaron, successfully, pinned him to the wall again. Just then, Steve returned and Louis' eyes widened as he saw a white syringe in his hands.

"No! No. Steve, no!" Louis protested, trying to squirm but Aaron's grip tightened on him, pressing him more against the wall. "No! You said you wouldn't hurt him!"

"Calm down, Louis. Nobody is hurting him!" Aaron said, struggling to keep Louis from breaking free. "Stop struggling, Louis! Please." He added but Louis thrashed more upon seeing Steve close in on Harry, who looked three seconds from passing out of fear.

"No! Don't do anything to him! No, please. Please, Aaron! Please. No!" Louis cried, struggling with all his might but Aaron managed to hold him back. Despite Aaron constantly trying to calm him down, nothing worked to deter Louis' struggles.

However, he went still as he saw Harry's body go limp as soon as Steve removed the needle from his skin but fought again when Steve lifted Harry up and was taking him somewhere else.

"Where are you taking him? Let him go! Leave hi-" Louis was cut off as Aaron placed his hand over his mouth.

"Louis? Stop and listen to me. Nobody is doing anything to him. Steve's just going to put him back in his car. That's it. Now, please, calm down!" Aaron said as Louis pried his hand off his mouth.

"What did you do to him?" Louis demanded but Aaron only tried to calm him again. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?"

"Calm down, Louis! Just stop shouting." Aaron said.

"What did you do to him?" Louis asked again, this time, his voice seeming close to breaking.

"We didn't do anything. He's just unconscious. Now, stop struggling!" He said and Louis stopped but pushed Aaron away from him again. "Louis? I know you're worried about him but you know that I won't hurt him. I won't. I promised you, didn't I?"

"I don't trust you!" Louis said, leaning his back to the wall behind him and turning to look in the direction Steve had taken Harry.

"He's fine. You saw it, he's fine. C'mon, let's get to the car." Aaron said, going over and taking Louis' hand but he snatched it away. "What is wrong with you?"

"I'm not coming with you!" Louis said, pushing Aaron again.

"Louis, stop doing all this! I told you about the cooperation before. Please, Louis. Just understand."

"I won't go anywhere with you!" Louis said again. "I've had enough of you always lying! Enough of you dragging me along to places! Enough of you hurting my friends!"

"I didn't hurt any of your friends!" Aaron said, grabbing Louis' hands and stopping him from getting away. He groaned as Louis kicked him in the shin but didn't loosen his grip. "Louis? Stop! Don't make me do something I'll regret! I don't want to fight you, Louis."

"Just let me go! I can't do this anymore. I want to go home!" Louis said, again, managing to kick Aaron in the same place, earning a grunt in response from him. 

Despite the kicks, Aaron tried to hold Louis for a few more seconds until Steve returned.

"I put him in his car and texted one of his friends to come get him." Steve said before looking at the two of them.

"Help me get him to the car!" Aaron said.

"No! I am not going anywhere!" Louis said, struggling more as he saw Steve approach them. "Let me go! Please. Just let me go." He cried as the two of them dragged him to the car which was parked at one end of the alley.

Once there, Steve opened the back door and Aaron forced Louis into the backseat before getting in and closing the door.

"Get something to tie him up, Steve! I've had enough of him." Louis heard Aaron say as he tried to open the door on his side, but unfortunately for him, it was locked. He tried to hit the tinted windows of the car but to no avail.

"Get away from me!" He yelled, shifting away as Aaron tried to pull his hands together behind him.

"Then just cooperate and I'll leave you alone!" He said but Louis just responded with a kick to him which Aaron blocked.

"I won't! I have cooperated enough with you already. But I haven't gone home yet. I don't trust you! And I don't want to be anywhere near you!" He said, still defiant with his continued struggles as he saw the door to his side open and Steve got in with a roll of tape and a scarf in his hands.

"This is all I found in the mess in the trunk." Steve said, throwing the roll towards Aaron while Louis tried to do everything he could to stop them from tying him up. But he knew he was outnumbered and his strength was nothing compared to the two of them.

He tried to kick and squirm as Aaron started taping his wrists behind his back before Steve did the same to his ankles. Finally, he stopped once his muscles were aching after his fight and just sat, silently, as he saw Aaron pick up the scarf.

"I won't gag you if you promise not to say another word." Aaron said but Louis just glared at him.

"Fuck you." He retorted, making Aaron sigh as he pulled the scarf between Louis' teeth, knotting it behind his head.

"I'm trying to be nice with you, Louis but you always leave me with no choice." He said, once done fastening the cloth, making sure to tie it securely but not tight. He reached to pat Louis' cheek but he jerked his head away in anger, tears slipping from his eyes. "I promise you again that you will go back home. I will make sure that you do, Louis. This will soon be over. Trust me." He said, again but Louis just shook his head and closed his eyes as he cried more.

The two of them eyed him with concern before getting out and making him lie down on the backseat. Closing the doors, they got in the front and drove back to Aaron's home.


	16. SIXTEEN

Steve stopped the car right outside Jenny's house and waited for Aaron to get down. He saw him close the door to the passenger's side before walking over to him.

"I'll get rid of the car. You get him inside." He said and Steve nodded before getting out as well. "Go from the back door. I don't want Sharon to see her Mr. T like this."

"Alright." Steve said before going to the backseat and reaching to get Louis but sighed as he backed away.

Despite his muffled and weak protests, Steve lifted him up before nodding at Aaron and carrying him into the house through the back door. Jenny looked at Louis with concern as Steve carried him upstairs but did not want to interfere with any of Aaron's matters. Once in the guest room, Steve placed Louis' bound form on the bed before reaching over to undo his gag but Louis shifted away from him.

"Louis? Fighting against us will get you nowhere. Even you know that." He said, trying to reach him again but Louis only moved away further. So, he gave up and decided to just let him be and sat at the edge of the bed.

Louis felt immense hatred against the two of them and just wanted to kick at Steve or do anything to get him away from him but he knew Steve was right. It would get him nowhere. So, he just lied down and tried to calm himself unlike his mind that kept hovering over how Harry was doing. He wanted to know but there was no way he could.

"Aaron is not a criminal like all of us, Louis." Steve said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "He just came into all of this for a reason. Trust me. Because if he was anything like me or the others, then, you would have been six feet under by now. If anything, you should be thankful that he is saving you from those people who are after you. They are just a burden, honestly. If I were in Aaron's place, I would have killed you long back to get rid of those bastards from chasing after me." He said and his words only made Louis more terrified.

There was silence for a few minutes until the door opened and Aaron entered. Steve got up and moved away from the bed, going over and sitting himself down on the couch in one corner of the room. He was surprised to see Aaron so calm and composed even after everything that had happened today. He walked towards the bed and lifted Louis into a sitting position at the edge before taking a chair and sitting down in front of him. He, nervously, pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking.

"I told you to stay right there, Louis. Why did you go?" He asked and Louis looked away, wondering how stupid Aaron is. As if he could talk with the cloth in his mouth. "I told you not to go anywhere, Louis. You think you're so safe that you can just go around without getting into any trouble? I know, seeing your friend all of a sudden must be overwhelming but maybe you could use your brain next time." 

Louis only closed his eyes and let a fresh set of tears fall again.

"I'm not angry at you, Louis. I just . . do you know why I came after you? Because I thought you were in trouble. I saw Harry dragging you away and I thought he was someone else. I know you're thinking why I even bothered coming for you. If I tell you, then you'll, probably, regret your decision." Aaron said and Louis looked up at him with teary eyes, as if asking him for an explanation. "Eric's men were there, Louis! Why do you think I sent Jenny and Sharon home in such a hurry? Why do you think I asked you to stay right where you were? Because they were there! For you! For her! And I didn't want anything to happen to either of you. Just think about it, Louis. Even if they would've taken you, then I might have done something to get you back. But just think. Even Harry was there. What if something would've happened to him? You could've gotten him in trouble, too." He said while Louis cried more at his words.

"I know that you didn't know anything. That I didn't tell you anything. But that is why I asked you not to go anywhere. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to scare you more than you already were. I hope your understanding what I'm telling you, Louis. I'm sorry that you're having to go through all this because of me but I'm trying my best to keep you out of harm's way. But I won't be able to if you keep fighting against me." Aaron said, wiping Louis' tears with his hands before placing them on either side of his face. "I'm only asking you for a small favour, Louis. I'm only asking for you to do as I say. To save my daughter's life. To save yourself. So both of us can go back home."

He looked into Louis' sad, blue eyes that seemed to sympathise with him but the tears still kept streaming down his face, uncontrollably. Aaron sighed and wiped them again before talking.

"I'm a horrible person, Louis. I agree with you. But you're not. You're a good person. I know that because both the times you thought for your friends before you did for yourself. And that is why I am asking you for this. Because I know you care. You care about others, unlike me. Just think about everything again, Louis. I don't ask everyone for favours like these. Please." Aaron said but stopped when he heard a voice that shouldn't have been here.

"Dad?" Sharon's fragile voice called and Aaron turned to look at the door behind him. He dropped his hands from Louis' face, letting him look down and, silently, cry.

"Sharon, what are you doing here?" Aaron asked, calmly, as he stood up, not wanting to leave Louis alone in his state.

"I-I wanted you to read me a story." She answered, innocently before looking at Louis. "What happened to Mr. T?"

"He's fine, sweetie. He just misses his friends." Aaron said, going over to pick her up in his arms and take her back to her room.

"He can have my bear if he feels so lonely." She said and Aaron smiled before glancing at Louis.

"He said he just wants to rest." Aaron said, nodding at Steve before leaving the room along with Sharon.

Louis cried more as soon as the door closed and Steve approached him. He did miss his friends and family. All he wanted to do was go home. But everything Aaron just said kept echoing in his head. Steve made him lie down on the bed and looked at him with a hint of pity. Louis' face showed distress as he closed his eyes again, tears slowly running down his face. He flinched when Steve tried to reach him to undo his bindings so he decided to leave him alone until he would calm down. He pulled the blanket over the shivering and crying boy before leaving the room. But what Steve didn't know was that Louis didn't want him to leave. He just wanted someone to stay with him and be a friend. That was all he needed right now. But, unfortunately, he had no one so he just laid down until he cried himself to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Harry, slowly, opened his eyes and looked around, realising he was on his own bed. He tried to recall what had happened before and when everything hit him, he sat up on his bed. Looking around, he saw Niall and Zayn sitting beside the bed, looking at him confusedly.

"What . . what am I doing here?" He asked them.

"Well, you texted me to come and get you from the park. So, when I reached there I found you asleep in your car so . . we were kinda waiting for you to wake up and explain." Zayn answered.

"I-I wasn't sleeping. I was drugged." Harry told them.

"What?" Niall said, tiredly. "Look, are you still sleepy or something?"

"No, Niall! I was drugged. I . . I saw _Louis_. At the park." He said again and the two of them became alert at the mention of his name.

"What?" Zayn exclaimed, not quite believing what Harry was saying.

"Well, then, what happened? Where is he?" Niall asked, impatiently.

"I don't kn-know. I remember talking to him. I kept asking him to come with me but he refused. He just . . he said he couldn't home." Harry replied, making Zayn give him a confused look.

"What are you talking, Haz? You don't even make any sense!" Zayn said. "Why wouldn't Louis want to come home?"

"I don't know. I tried asking him why and he said he couldn't tell me. He said he will come back but not now. He kept pushing me away!" 

"Harry?" Niall said, softly. "Are you sure you saw Louis? Or was it someone else. Because they are not even in England. They are in Amer-"

"No, Niall! I spoke to him. It was Louis!" He said, making Niall and Zayn exchange glances.

"Did Louis drug you?" Zayn asked, cringing at how absurd it sounded.

"No. Some other guy did. Steve! Louis called him Steve. Even Aaron was there. He was pointing a gun at Louis an-and said he'd hurt him if I didn't go." Harry said and Zayn got up from his chair.

"I think we should call Colton and let him know." He said and Niall nodded in approval before turning back to Harry.

"Harry?" He said and Harry turned to look at him. "How is he? They didn't hurt him, did they?"

"What?" Harry asked and Niall nodded in concern.

"The l-last time they called and we traced it, they . . he is fine, right?" Niall asked again.

"He is. He seemed fine. But terribly scared." Harry told him and Niall sighed in relief as he felt a huge weight lift off his chest, knowing Louis didn't get hurt because of him. At least, he was alright.


	17. SEVENTEEN

Louis opened his heavy eyes and looked around, realising he was still on the bed Steve had left him on. He groaned upon noticing that his limbs were still taped together and he couldn't move them. His hands ached from being in the same position for so long and cramps had developed in his shoulder from sleeping only on one side of his body. He tried to lie on his back but that only strained his tired arms further so he got back to his position and didn't move. He pulled at his wrists to dislodge the tape but the sticky material didn't budge. He couldn't even call for Aaron or Steve to help him out.

In order to distract himself from his discomfort and misery, he shifted his attention to the window beside the bed. He saw the moon, round and white and realised it must be somewhere after evening. How long had he even been asleep? He kept staring out of the window for what seemed like a few more minutes before he, finally, heard the door creak open. He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep because he didn't want to face Aaron or Steve again.

However, he slowly opened his eyes as he felt a soft and tender skin touch his and found Sharon standing beside the bed along with Aaron. She, gently, reached for the cloth and removed it from his mouth before placing her hand on his cheek.

"Hi, Mr. T." She said, smiling at him. "Did you sleep well?" He stared at her for a few seconds, not knowing what to say before, slowly, nodding.

"I did." He whispered and she smiled wider.

"If you miss your friends again, then, you can take my bear. He's very friendly." She told him and he tried to smile but couldn't help the one tear that left his eye, rolling down to the mattress. "Why are you crying, Mr. T?" She asked, frowning as she touched the wet skin.

"Nothing." He whispered after a few seconds. "You . . just remind me of my sisters."

"Sharon? Tell him why you came here." Aaron said and she nodded before looking at Louis again.

"Bye-bye, Mr. T. I'll miss you." She said and he scrunched his eyebrows. Were they going to leave again?

"I'll miss you, too." He said, smiling the slightest he could.

She smiled before retrieving her hand and left, closing the door. Louis wanted to cry again but he must have ran out of tears. He saw Aaron remove a small switchblade and reach him to remove the tape.

"I'm sorry, Louis. I told her but she didn't listen. Kept saying she wanted to see you before we leave." Aaron said, once he was done freeing Louis and making him sit up. "We're going to one of Steve's friend's place. It's about five to six hours from here." He said, picking up a pair of jeans and a jumper and placing them beside Louis. "You can freshen up if you want. Don't mind the clothes, they're kinda oversized. They're Steve's. I'll try to get a few other pairs for you once we get th-"

"I'm sorry." Louis whispered and Aaron gave him a confused look, not having heard what he said.

"Did you say anyth-?" Aaron asked and Louis looked up at him, speaking before Aaron could finish.

"I said I'm sorry, Aaron." He said again. "I won't try to run anymore."

Aaron looked at him for a few seconds before placing his hand on Louis' shoulder and smiling.

"I trust you." He said, patting his shoulder before leaving. "Get ready."

 

* * *

 

"Hello?" Liam heard Colton say from the other side of the line.

"Uh . . Mr. Dawson, this is Liam Payne." He said into the phone.

"Oh, Mr. Payne. We don't really have any leads y-"

"They're in London." Liam says, cutting him off as he looks at Zayn who, slightly, nods.

"What?!" Dawson explains in response.

"Yes. Harry saw Louis this morning at the park." He replied and heard Colton clear his throat before speaking.

"Alright. We'll be there as soon as possible." Colton said and Liam hummed in reply. "Anything else? About Louis."

"No. Just that Harry saw him and that's it. Although, he said that Louis wasn't willing to come with him." Liam told him.

"Are you sure?" Dawson asked and Liam murmured a  _yes._ "Why would he do that?"

"We don't know." 

"Fine. Don't worry, Mr. Payne, we'll try to be there at the earliest." Colton said.

"Thank you, Mr. Dawson." Liam answered before hanging up.

 

* * *

 

"How did they even know we were there?" Aaron asked as he saw Steve working on the laptop while Louis sat, silently, listening to what they were conversing. Steve shrugged in response to Aaron's question.

"Maybe, they're following us." He mumbled without removing his eyes from the monitor.

"No. That isn't possible. I kept checking. There was nothing suspicious." Aaron replied before pulling out his phone and angrily typing something. Steve noticed it and snatched the phone from Aaron's hand and threw it at the wall, smashing it. Louis flinched at the sudden move as he nearly missed getting hit by the device by mere centimetres. "Why'd you do that?"

"You gotta stop using phones, man. Tracking." Steve answered making Aaron roll his eyes.

"Nobody knows my number. Except Dave and you!" Aaron said, sighing. "By the way, congratulations, 'cause you managed to scare the kid again." He said, noticing Louis' panicked features.

"I'm fine." Louis mumbled without looking at them. "I'm not a kid, though."

"Alright." Aaron replied before standing up from his chair and heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Steve asked, finally, looking up.

"To talk to your friend Marcus. I don't know why but I'm a bit interested in knowing more about this area." Aaron answered, without sparing a glance at the two as he closed the door and left.

There was silence for a lot of seconds as the only sound in the room was from the laptop that Steve was using.

"Steve?" Louis called, finally, breaking the silence. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." He heard Steve say and decided to continue.

"What do you do?" He asked, making Steve give him a confused look. "I mean . . w-what is your job, exactly?"

"You really want to know?" Steve asked and he nodded.

"Well, I'm . . I'm bored." He muttered.

"Look, Louis. If you're bored then you can just play games on my computer or something but don't ask me about my job. Because, believe me, once I tell you, you're gonna be wishing to stay a one mile radius away from me. Get it?" Steve said and Louis nodded before sighing in annoyance.

"How do you track cellphones?" He asked again, trying to pick up another conversation.

"It's a lot of complicated procedure. Why?"

"Just asked." Louis said and there was silence again as he let his mind hover over thoughts. "Steve?"

"Now, what?" Steve asked again.

"You broke Aaron's phone because you said it could be tracked, right?" He asked and Steve nodded, furrowing his eyebrows as to understand what he was getting at. "Then . . can't laptops be tracked, too?"

Steve frowned, wondering that Louis was right. Maybe, it was his laptop they were tracking.

"It's possible." He said shutting down the laptop before closing it. "They can hack the address. I need to te-" Steve was interrupted when the door slammed open and the two of them turned to see Aaron walk over to Steve with an angry expression on his, otherwise, calm face. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I ended it that way. But I'll try to update the next chapter as soon as possible. I promise!


	18. EIGHTEEN

Aaron walked over to Steve before grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the room, closing the door and leaving Louis alone. He pushed Steve against the wall beside the door, taking the taller guy by surprise.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Aaron?" He asked, pushing him away.

"Your stupid friend! He fucking called the cops!" Aaron seethed, anger clear in his voice.

"What are you talking? Mark won't do that!" Steve argued.

"Well, then, go and ask him yourself, Steve! I heard him on the phone!" Aaron said while Steve tried to take in what he was telling.

"So, now what?" Steve asked and Aaron looked at him. "What do we do?"

Aaron calmed down a bit as he tried to think of something. He had to do something to get out of this. Maybe, he could use Louis again. But he didn't want to hurt Louis anymore.

"Go and get him here. I know what to do." He said and Steve nodded before going off to get Marcus.

Aaron sighed and entered the room again to see Louis sitting in the chair he had been occupying with his eyes stuck to something on the carpet of the floor. He looked up as soon as he heard the door open and saw Aaron. He wanted to ask why his mood was off but decided otherwise. However, he tensed up as he saw Aaron remove his gun from the bag and load it.

"Wha-What are you doing?" Louis asked, his eyes following as Aaron walked towards his chair.

But his question was met with silence for an answer. He, immediately, felt scared since Aaron was already angry and seeing him walk over with the weapon only added to his fear. Aaron didn't respond as he pulled Louis up from the chair, pulling him to the centre before dragging the chair and pushing him into it. Louis resisted at first but complied when Aaron placed the gun against his forehead.

"Aaron, what are you doing?" Louis asked again with a fearful and shaky voice as he tried to calm himself but failed. Because, no matter how many times Aaron says that he won't kill him, there was still something that made his mind convince on the opposite. "Why are you doing this?" He whispered, looking up at Aaron who bored a stoic expression.

"Louis, just stay calm." Aaron said in a calm tone that Louis didn't expect.

"How can I? Why are you doing this? I was cooperating!" He said again, his hand reaching up to get the black metal away but Aaron grabbed his wrist before pressing the gun further against his head. 

"I know you were cooperating and that is exactly what I want you to do right now." Aaron said, placing Louis' hand back down.

"Really? You want me to cooperate for my own death?" He asked, reaching his hands for the gun again but Aaron pushed them away.

"Stop, Louis. I am not going to kill you. So, just shut up and sit!" Aaron said but Louis pushed Aaron's hand away, making Aaron sigh in anger as he went back to the bag. Louis followed him with his eyes as he saw Aaron remove the handcuffs again. Louis could only watch nervously as Aaron cuffed his hands around one of the chair's armrests since he didn't want to agitate Aaron in doing something to hurt him.

"Please don't do this, Aaron. I told you, I will cooperate. I won't do anything. Please." Louis tried to convince him again in an almost desperate tone. 

"I am not doing anything to you, Louis. Just keep quiet and don't say a word." Aaron said. "Please." He added and Louis, reluctantly, nodded before swallowing thickly as he felt the gun against his head again. To say that he was scared was an understatement. He was terrified down to his core and didn't know what Aaron had on his mind. Aaron, on the other hand, stood beside Louis' chair with eyes trained on the door, waiting for Steve to return with Marcus. 

A few seconds of silence passed before they heard a muffled exclamation from the other side of the door and Louis looked up. The door opened and Steve entered, carrying a bound figure over his shoulder and Louis recognised him as Steve's friend. The guy who had let them stay here. He was confused as to why Steve would like to treat his friend in that way, watching as Steve pulled out a chair opposite the one he was sitting on and set Marcus onto the wooden seat. Marcus glared at the man standing beside the singer, making Aaron smirk in response.

"He was fighting back so I had to tie him up." Steve explained, removing his own gun and aiming at Marcus. 

"Glad you could join us." Aaron remarked, looking at Marcus, who let out a muffled growl. He would've rained Aaron with a trail of insults if it weren't for the cloth that had been forced between his teeth. "So, you called the cops on us?" Aaron asked but Marcus only glared back in silence. "Well, I did overhear you. And seems like you like getting yourself in trouble. Now, I want you to call them again and tell that we left. Can you do that?" Aaron asked, calmly, but the man sitting opposite him merely scoffed, shaking his head  _no_ with determination.

Aaron's smile grew wider as he gave a slight nod to Steve, who reached for the cloth and pulled it down from Marcus' mouth, making him flinch.

"Since you don't want to do it willingly, then, maybe we'll do this the ha-"

"You two are criminals! The prison is where you belong!" Marcus said, interrupting Aaron, who sighed impatiently.

"Let me finish and don't speak a word unless you're asked to." Aaron threatened and the man remained silent, his glare still as cold as before. "Now, I give you three options. One. you do as we say, call them and tell them we left and you walk free. Two. I kill you right now and then we leave. Three. I kill him, frame you for it and then we leave." He finished, gripping his gun tighter as Louis' fear increased at the last sentence.

"No." He whispered, almost inaudibly, making Aaron place his hand over his mouth.

"Choose, Marcus. Although, I reckon you'd even consider the last two." Aaron said.

"Why wouldn't I? I don't think the third one would do me any harm." Marcus said, further adding to Louis' fear. "You kill him, then what? I'll only get arrested. Guess even you two might join me there, a few days later. There's a great amount of reward over your capture, Stone, you know that? Kill him. I don't give a fuck."

"Are you sure?" Aaron asked, removing the gun's safety. Louis closed his eyes and let out a weak whimper against his hand, making Aaron press his hand further against Louis' mouth, trying to calm him down but every passing second only frightened Louis more. "Prison isn't heaven, Marcus. It's worse than hell. Take it from someone who's spent over six years there. Believe me, you won't be able to bear it for more than a week. I was only in for murders of ordinary people, Marc. But just think about it. You'll be going in for killing a world-famous singer. You even know how much he's worth? You must've seen the news already and might be knowing how many people are looking for him. Still go with your answer?"

Louis shut his eyes tighter and only prayed that Marcus wouldn't say a yes. Marcus, tiredly, sighed and leaned back on his tied arms. He glanced at the terrified and almost pale boy in the chair opposite him and felt sorry for him. Aaron and Steve could be murderers but he wasn't. He was kind, he knew it. Because he couldn't find the will to risk someone else's life. Even if it was to get two dangerous criminals arrested.

"Fine." He muttered, making Louis' eyes snap open. "I'll call them and tell them you left."

"Good. Where's your phone?" Aaron asked him.

"Dining table." He answered and Steve, immediately, left to get it.

Louis let out a relieved but shaky breath as Aaron's hand left his mouth but the gun was still trained to his forehead. 

"You will never get away with this." Marcus said, glaring at Aaron.

"Thanks for reminding me." Aaron retorted as Steve returned with Marcus' phone, a few seconds later.

"I can't really talk like this, you know?" Marcus said, pulling at the tape that bound his hands and feet as he saw Steve dial the number.

"Don't try to act smart with me. Your mouth is all you need to talk." Aaron replied, bluntly, as Steve put the phone to Marcus' ear. "Any smart moves and I'll shoot him before snapping your neck." Aaron said, his free hand taking hold of Louis' collar.

Marcus swallowed, clenching his jaw before he heard Colton Dawson answer the call.

"Mr. Dawson, this is Marcus Steele. I . . I called to inform that they left. . . .Yes. . . . Yes, along with Louis Tomlinson. . . . No. . . . . I didn't ask. . . I-I tried but decided otherwise, since they-uh-could've gotten some suspicion a-and they had weapons, so. . . . I'm sorry, Mr. Dawson." They heard Marcus talk before Steve retrieved the phone and hung up.

"Thank you, Marcus." Aaron remarked, dryly as he removed the gun from Louis' forehead, making him sigh in relief.

"Why are you doing this? Why did you take him?" Marcus asked and Aaron simply shrugged. 

"I don't think you need to know that." Aaron said before nodding at Steve. 

Steve leant down to gag Marcus again but he moved his head back.

"I can't believe you're helping him, Steve." He said but Steve only gave him an apologetic look and slipped the cloth back into his mouth, effectively silencing him as he reached behind his head to pull the ends tight and secure.

"Unfortunately, this is what I do, Marc." Steve said, patting his friend's shoulder and standing back up.

Aaron unlocked the handcuffs and released Louis' hands, pulling him to his feet as Steve picked up their bag and laptop and they started to leave. Marcus let out a muffled groan as he panicked at the thought of being left helpless for God knows how long. Aaron chuckled, without stopping as he pulled Louis along with him.

"Don't worry, Marcus. I know the cops will come and get you." He said before leading Louis out of the door and closing it behind them.


	19. NINETEEN

"Seriously? A strip club?" Aaron asked from the passenger as soon as Steve parked in front of the place, snapping Louis out of his already disturbed sleep. "Of all the places in this city, this is where Dave decided to meet me?"

"You know Dave and his obsession with girls." Steve replied, getting down as Aaron followed and helped a still sleepy Louis from the backseat.

"Why are we here?" He asked in a husky voice, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the grogginess.

"You remember Dave?" Aaron asked and Louis nodded, slightly, not liking the mention of his name. "Well, he had something to talk to me. Don't worry, I won't let him kill you."

Louis rolled his eyes and walked along with Aaron, pulling his hood above his head while Steve joined them but disappeared again a few minutes later. The place was so crowdy that Louis was, actually, scared that he'd lose Aaron and get lost in the people but Aaron made sure he didn't leave Louis' arm. The loud music and the neon lights in the dark made Louis' head sway as they passed through the drunk and sweaty people who were too busy throwing bills and whistling at the girls around the place.

After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached an L-shaped couch in one of the corners of the place. Louis' body automatically tensed up on seeing the familiar and scary man on the couch beside an almost naked girl. He felt Aaron lead him to the other end before letting him sit and seating himself beside Louis.

"I see that you're still tagging him along with you." Dave remarked, dryly before throwing his cigar in the ash tray beside him.

"I can't leave him alone." Aaron said, calmly.

"Of course, but you can kill him." Dave said and no matter how much Aaron reassured Louis with his hand, he couldn't help the fear that was building inside him. 

"You know that I don't kill people I am not supposed to." Aaron told him making Dave chuckle.

"That's why you should've just let me done the honours the last time we met." Dave said but Aaron remained silent. "He's only a burden, Stone. When are you going to understand that? Vincent is after him."

"So you know about that?" Aaron asked in reply.

"Of course, the attack on the warehouse in California for him didn't go unnoticed." 

"None of our men were hurt. I am the one who's handling his burden, not you. So, leave it all to me."

"Yes. But you are not the one who has to answer my boss! He had a knife against my throat, grilling me for what you did!" Dave said, raising his voice, his tone making Louis flinch. He was further scared as the man's eyes turned to him. "He's a hostage, Aaron. Treat him like one. Stop giving him liberties! What if he tries something when you leave him free like that? What if he escapes?"

"He won't." Aaron mumbled, his grip subconsciously tightening on Louis' hand.

"Keep him on a leash, Aaron. I'm warning you. If he escapes and opens his mouth in front of the cops about any of us, then I will have your head." Dave threatened and Aaron merely nodded.

He didn't even realise the anger rising in him or the way his grip had started hurting Louis. Louis looked at him before trying to wiggle his hand and loosen his hold but it only made Aaron grip tighter and Louis, finally, let out a whimper. Aaron immediately snapped out of his daze and left Louis' hand before, quietly, apologising. This, however, caught Dave's attention and he didn't seem pleased with it. 

"Are you even listening to anything I'm saying, Aaron?" He asked, sarcastically, moving his hand to the gun in his coat pocket.

"Don't even think about it, Dave. Don't." Aaron said noticing the movement. "He won't be a threat to anyone. You have my word. And I mean it."

Dave glared at him for a few seconds before sighing heavily and retrieving his hand.

"Fine." He muttered. "So, what are you going to do after this? Hm? What's your plan?"

"I have no plan." Aaron replied. "Maybe I'll go back to my old house and hide there for some time."

"How will you kill Eric if you hide? How will you find him?"

"I won't. He will. He will find me and I will kill him when he does. But I need to hide because cops are searching for me and him."

"It's not as simple as it sounds, Aaron. Use your head!"

"I am. I know exactly what I'm doing." Aaron replied and Dave sighed again.

"I'm trusting you again, Aaron. But if anything goes wrong, you know I have control of your most precious possession, right?" Dave says and Aaron only nods.

"I want you to give me the keys to my house." Aaron said.

"I don't have them." Dave replied making Aaron frown.

"Where are they?"

"Right where you left them."

 

* * *

 

"You really think taking Louis in there is a good idea?" Steve asked Aaron as he stopped the car outside the large office Aaron had to go to.

"Yeah. Why?" Aaron asked in return making Steve roll his eyes.

"Come on, Aaron. Robert is a blo--" Steve started but cut himself off. "You know, I'm just going to spare the details 'cause he's right here and I don't want to scare him anymore. But I guess you know what I'm trying to say."

"I do." Aaron replied. "But I don't think leaving him here is good either."

"It's your wish." Steve said and Louis felt the urge to interrupt.

"Wait, what do-what does he mean?" He asked, looking at Aaron.

"Nothing. Just ignore him." Aaron answered but Louis wasn't convinced.

"I-I will stay in the car. I won't go anywhere, Aaron. I promise." He said again but Aaron only shook his head before opening the car door.

"Nothing will happen to you, Louis. Come." He said, holding the door open for Louis to get out. Louis hesitated for a couple of seconds but got down when Aaron nodded at him.

Aaron started walking towards the entrance as Steve took Louis' hand and pulled him along. They walked past a few people who were busy smoking, doing drugs and making out by the corners while a few people spared them a glance. But the most chilling part for Louis were the desperate and scary screams that came from the rooms on both sides. He didn't even want to know about them.

After a few turns down the corridors, they reached a door and Aaron looked back at the two of them before, slightly, nodding at Steve who reciprocated it. Steve pushed Louis behind him, almost protectively, as Aaron opened the door and they followed inside. The room was dark yet bright enough to make out the faces. Louis could see armed men dressed in black standing on both the sides while another figure was seated in a chair behind a desk at the end of the room. The person sat in the chair smiled as he looked at Aaron before placing his hands on the desk and speaking.

"Great to see you here, Stone." He said, only looking at Aaron for a brief second before his eyes lingered towards Steve. Steve's words from the car kept repeating in Louis' head, making him cower more behind Steve. Aaron noticed this through the corner of his eye and tried to distract Robert.

"Robert, I--"

"I know." Robert said, interrupting Aaron, his eyes still trying to look at the person hiding behind Steve. "I know what you came here for. Dave told me."

His hand went under the desk, the sound of opening a drawer echoing through the awfully silent room. He removed a set of keys and dropped them on the desk. Aaron reached for them but Robert placed his hand on top, covering them before smiling up at Aaron.

"What are you doing?" Aaron asked, confusedly.

"I took care of your house for eight years, Aaron. I deserve something in return for the keys, don't I?" He said and both, Aaron and Steve tensed up, knowing where the conversation was going.

"What do you ask, then?" Aaron asked, his fists clenching on his sides.

"I think you know very well, Stone." Robert said before turning his gaze back to the figure behind Steve, who stood up straighter to hide him as much as possible.

"I won't let you touch him, Robert." Aaron said, noticing the menacing smile on his lips. "Either change the deal or drop it."

"I don't change my deals. Either hand him and take your keys or forget about them and go home." Robert replied.

"Unfortunately, the keys to my home are with you." Aaron retoreted, sarcastically. "I get what I want, Robert. I can kill you and get the keys if I want."

"Even I get what I want, Aaron. And I can kill you and get him if I want."


	20. TWENTY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *WARNING* - This chapter contains mention and depiction of sexual assault. So read at your own risk.

_"Even I get what I want, Aaron. And I can kill you and get him if I want."_

Both Aaron and Robert glared at each other for a second before Robert snapped his fingers and, within a second, one of the men started approaching Louis. He pushed the man away and tried to hold onto Steve, who himself was trying to stop another two men. But they were outnumbered.

Aaron saw Steve struggling to keep Louis safe and went forward to help but he was held back by three men. A few seconds later, even Steve was overpowered and Louis stood frozen at the sight of the two, letting two pairs of meaty hands hold him as another tied his hands together with a coil of rope.

However, he tried to kick and squirm as he saw Robert stand and approach him. He flinched seeing Robert raise his hand, lifting his bound hands to cover his face but he heard Robert chuckle in response.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on him, Robert! I will fucking kill you!" Aaron said, struggling against the men as he saw Robert hold Louis' hands down before placing his hand on the terrified boy's cheek.

"Oh, you are such an eye candy." Robert mumbled, trailing his thumb over Louis' cheekbone as if trying to take in every detail of his face, which made Louis cringe internally. "No wonder millions of girls drool over you! You'll sell for a fortune!"

Louis squirmed more, fruitlessly, as Robert's hand trailed down to his neck and collarbone. He tried to control his rigid breathing and shifted his terrified, blue eyes to see Aaron and Steve struggling furiously to break free.

"Get your hands off him, Robert!" Steve yelled, seeing Louis squirm more but Robert didn't pay any attention.

Before Louis could do anything to fight him, Robert had his fist in Louis' hair, making him whimper as he tightened his grip and the other two men let him go. Aaron and Steve protested more as Robert started dragging Louis somewhere, his hands going up to free Robert's grip but he only gripped tighter. He stumbled, finding it difficult to catch his footing as Robert mercilessly pulled him along, unheeding Louis' desperate cries.

He felt tears blur his vision as he heard a door open before being thrown to the floor. His mind raced with fear as he heard Robert lock the door and he didn't even have the time to get up as Robert took his arm and started dragging him again. He tried to fight but it felt useless against Robert's much taller and stronger personality.

Louis' fear increased further as he was thrown onto what felt like a bed and the mattress dipped as Robert got onto it as well. Louis tried to back away, hitting the headboard but Robert grabbed his ankle and dragged him back to his position before getting on top of him.

"No! No, please. Let me go!" Louis pleaded as he tried to use his hands to push the man off him but Robert grabbed his hands and pinned them above his head.

Louis cried and kicked as much as he could when Robert started leaving trails of kisses along his cheeks and jaw. He craned his neck to try and avoid it but that only gave him access to his neck and Louis cried more, feeling disgusted by his touch. He tried to wiggle out of his grasp but to no avail. He let tears freely run down his face as he felt Robert's hand slide under his T-shirt and he tried to kick him with his legs but Robert's weight on him was already suffocating, further adding to his difficulty.

"No!" Louis screamed, fear running through his veins when Robert's hand hovered over the belt on his jeans, his fingers trying to unbuckle it.

Louis kicked with all his might but Robert seemed completely unaffected by his weak protests while his weight was practically suffocating Louis. But he didn't want to give up and he wasn't going to give in without a fight. He protested more when Robert had unbottoned his jeans before moving his fingers to the zip. He couldn't control the set of tears that kept spilling out of his eyes as his hearing seemed muffled and his vision blurred, leaving his panicked heartbeat as the only sound he could hear.

After a few seconds, he finally felt Robert's weight get off him and felt his breathing regain as he let himself curl in as much as possible, covering his face in despair and humiliation. He flinched as a hand placed itself on his shoulder but recognised the touch and let himself be pulled into warm and safe-feeling hands.

Aaron wrapped his hands around Louis' smaller frame while Steve was busy knocking Robert out. He felt really sorry for him. Because whatever had happened to Louis was because of him. And all he felt was guilt and sympathy. He was thankful that they had reached on time. He was thankful that nothing more had happened. But whatever little it seemed, sure must have affected Louis in the worst.

Aaron knew. Because that is exactly what Sherley had experienced. He could feel Louis' shoulders shake as he cried, clutching onto Aaron's shirt with his bound hands and soaking it with his tears. He rubbed his hand soothingly on Louis' back to calm him down but nothing seemed to work.

"I'm so sorry, Louis. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought you here. I'm sorry." He whispered but, for some reason, Louis cried more, making Aaron's guilt increase with every second. 

Aaron tried to pull away but Louis didn't let go. Sighing, he moved his hand to Louis' jeans and buttoned it before doing the same with the belt. He tried to pull away once again to untie his hands but Louis held onto his shirt with a grip which was making his knuckles turn white. He had no other choice so he sat that way for the next few seconds before Steve finally approached them, glancing at Louis with concern and then turning to Aaron with a look that clearly said _I told you._

"We can leave from the backdoor if you want." He said and Aaron nodded.

He took Louis' hands but when Louis resisted and further cowered into him, he carefully got up, lifting Louis and carried him back to the car with Steve following behind.

Steve opened the door to the backseat and Aaron got in before placing Louis on the seat. He reached to loosen Louis' hands again but Louis felt too embarrassed to even move. He whimpered and clutched Aaron's shirt desperately, burying his face further into the fabric. Because right now, he only seeked comfort. He craved it. Even if it was from the man who was responsible for everything happening to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter.. I know. It wasn't that good either. But the next one will be better and longer, I'll make sure..  
> This one was more like a filler.


	21. TWENTY-ONE

Louis woke up the next morning with a bit of a headache and found himself on a comfortable bed. He removed the duvet before sitting up and looking around, finding a pair of jeans and shirt on the bedside table. Silently, he took them and walked over to the bathroom to freshen up. He wanted to feel clean but no matter how much he tried, he could still feel Robert's filthy fingers on his skin.

Once he was ready, he sat down at the edge of the bed to put on his shoes that someone had taken out. Probably, Aaron or Steve. He was almost done tying the shoelace of one shoe when the door suddenly opened, making him jump slightly.

"Sorry. It's just me. So you're ready already?" He heard Aaron's voice and turned to find him standing in the doorway and nodded in reply. "Steve burned the breakfast again, so I brought something from the bakery nearby. We'll be at the dini-"

"I'm not hungry." Louis replied, bending back down to tie the other shoelace. Aaron sighed and looked at him, apologetically.

"Are you sure?" Louis heard Aaron say again once he was done and bit his lip, without looking up. "You haven't eaten since lunch yesterday." Aaron said and Louis shook his head, making him sigh again. "Don't starve yourself."

"I don't want to eat." Louis said again when he could see Aaron still standing at the door, from the corner of his eye.

"Alright. I'll be downstairs." Aaron said, turning to leave when Louis didn't reply. "If you need anything."

"Aaron?" He heard Louis' voice and stopped before turning to see Louis looking at him. "Stay. Please?" He requested, silently, and Aaron went back in before slowly closing the door.

"You need something?" He asked, not sure why Louis asked him to stay. Louis simply shrugged before looking down and fiddling with his fingers.

"I need a friend." He whispered, loud enough for Aaron to hear. "You might as well be one."

Aaron eyed him with concern before, slowly, walking over to the bed and sitting down beside Louis. The two of them sat in silence for a few seconds before Aaron finally spoke.

"Louis, I'm really sor--"

"It wasn't your fault." Louis interrupted in a low voice, with eyes still fixed at his fingers.

"No. It was. I shouldn't have taken you there." He said, placing his hand on Louis' shoulder as a sign of comfort. "Steve was right. I should've le--" He started but stopped, surprised, when Louis turned over and hugged him.

"Louis?" He said, confused and taken aback at the gesture. Even Louis wasn't sure why he did that but he didn't care. He only wanted a friend. "What ha--"

"Thank you." Louis whispered, voice muffled by Aaron's jacket.

"For what?" Aaron asked, hesitantly, placing his hand on Louis' back.

"For everything. For all the times you saved me." He said again.

"I didn't, Louis. I am the one who brought you into all of this. I don't think you should even consider me as a friend. Because I am a far cry from one. I . . I am a horrible person, Louis. I'm sorry. But I promise it will all be over and you will go home. I'll try to make it as soon as po--"

"Hey, Stone? You fell asleep, too, or what?" Aaron was interrupted by Steve from downstairs and so he pulled away and helped a reluctant Louis to his feet.

"Breakfast." He mumbled before taking him out of the door.

 

 

* * *

 

Louis, mindlessly, picked at his fingernails as he sat on the couch in the living room along with Aaron and Steve. The two of them were busy watching the news but he wasn't interested. His disappearance was all over the news channels and newspaper stories and he didn't want that kind of publicity.

None of them spoke a word for what seemed like minutes as Louis decided to occupy himself in looking around the interiors. The house must have been Aaron's since he recalls seeing a few pictures hanging on the wall by the staircase.

His trance was broken by a loud noise, startling not only him but also the other two. He turned to look at Aaron who looked confused but alerted and so was Steve. He realised what the sound was when he followed their gaze and saw a bullet hole in the leather couch. 

"Steve? Go and get the guns from upstairs!" Aaron said and Louis looked around, cluelessly, not knowing what to do.

Aaron, immediately, got up and took Louis' hand before pulling him along as Louis could hear more shots being fired. He felt scared as they finally made it to the kitchen, nearly missing all the bullets. As soon as they heard the front door crash open, Aaron pushed Louis to the floor behind a counter before crouching down himself.

"Stay down." He told Louis and put his ear to the wall, hearing various footsteps.

"What is going on?" Louis whispered in fear.

"I am as clueless as you, Louis. I don't know." He mumbled.

"I-Is it the cops?" Louis asked again but Aaron shook his head.

"I don't think so. Cops won't shoot blindly. They don't want to hurt people like you. At least, that's what I think." He replied without even looking at Louis. "I think this has something to do with Eri--"

He was cut off as another round of gunshots were heard and Louis had to cover his ears, not being used to such horrible noises. Aaron saw the two guns that were thrown by the counter and mentally thanked Steve before reaching for them.

Louis watched in silence as he loaded the two of them before looking at him, making Louis give him a questioning look.

"Will you be alright if I leave you here?" Aaron asked and Louis felt even more terrified.

"W-What do you mean?" He asked and Aaron sighed. "Don't leave me here."

"Look, even I don't want to leave you here. But if I don't go out there, Steve will probably die. He needs help, Louis." Aaron said and Louis stared at him for a second before nodding in understanding. 

Aaron picked up a gun and forwarded it for Louis to take. He gulped and looked at the metal in panic before finally taking it with his shaky hands.

"Anyone comes in here, then don't think. Just shoot. Get it?" He said and Louis nodded, slightly. "Just don't shoot me or Steve." He added, making Louis smile a bit but it disappeared as soon as it appeared. "You don't have to kill anyone. Go for the leg or hand. Just something to stall them until I return. Okay?"

Louis gave him another nod and Aaron sighed, patting his shoulder before getting onto his knees to peek over the counter. He could see men going up the stairs and in the living but no one was in the corridor leading to the kitchen so he took it as his chance to leave.

"B-But what if . . something happens to you?" Louis asked, seeing him get ready to leave, making Aaron stop and look at him.

"Alright." Aaron muttered, crouching down in front of him, before speaking. "If I don't return in twenty minutes, then use the kitchen window to jump out. Be careful and alert since there are no houses around. Keep going for about five minutes, you'll reach a few shops by a small roadside. And I guess you know what to do after that."

Louis blinked a couple of times and nodded, watching Aaron leave. 

All Aaron saw when he entered the living room were injured and dead men, all dressed in black attires. Maybe Steve didn't need that much help after all. He, cautiously, looked around for Steve but there was no sign of him.

However, some commotion and noises from outside caught his attention and he started towards the front door. Just as he was about to open the door, he heard the floorboard creak and turned around to see an armed man, aiming his gun at him.

"Are you Aaron Stone? Or Louis Tomlinson?" He asked and Aaron raised an eyebrow in question.

"Why?" He asked, both men holding the other at target.

"Just answer the question." The man retorted, clutching the gun tighter.

"Well, I don't want to tell you." Aaron said and the man sighed.

"Okay, look. Boss doesn't want either of you dead so . . he'll kill me otherwise." He trailed off.

"Who's your boss?" Aaron asked again.

"I don't know. He didn't tell me his name." Came the reply and Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Well, then, you're of no use to me." Aaron mumbled, pulling the trigger.

The man let out a scream as he dropped his gun and clutched his bleeding arm, dropping onto his knees. Aaron aimed for his head but couldn't get himself to kill him so shot his leg instead and headed for the door.

The scene outside wasn't any different except he saw Steve sitting on the ground a few metres away with the gun still in his hand. Panicked, Aaron approached him and crouched down.

"Steve? Are you alright? Don't tell me you got hurt or something." He said, glancing at his hands and legs to spot any injuries. But there were none except for a bloody nose and a small cut on the forehead.

"Are you kidding? I was just taking a break. You know me. I don't get hurt, Aaron." He said in his usual, cheerful and deep voice.

"Of course." Aaron mumbled, sarcastically, as he shot a guy who was approaching them.

"It's Eric." Steve said and Aaron looked at him. "I saw him. I was this close to killing him." Steve said, holding up his thumb and index finger a few centimeters apart. 

"Where is he?" Aaron asked, looking around them. 

"I don't know. I realised I shouldn't because he's your kill and by the time I snapped out, I was being attacked by his men and that bastard escaped. He went in the direction of the house so I thought you got him." Steve replied.

"Well, I didn't see h--"

"Where's Louis?" Steve asked and Aaron's face immediately showed a look of panic and realisation.

Steve gave a confused look, seeing him instantly scramble to his feet.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I left him back in the house! I need you to get the car here as soon as you can. Go!" He said before rushing back to the house, wishing Louis was alright.


	22. TWENTY-TWO

Louis sat silently, clutching the heavy metal in his hand tightly as fear rushed all through his veins. He didn't want to be left alone. He wanted Aaron to return and wished he wouldn't die. Because, for some reason, he did feel safe with him.

A few minutes passed, his mind growing frantic and impatient with each passing one. He couldn't hear the horrid noises from the other rooms anymore. It was awfully silent. And he didn't know if it was good or bad.

He couldn't decide whether to go and see if he could find Aaron or Steve or just stay here and wait for the twenty minutes to pass. So, he kept looking around the kitchen for minutes, making sure no one was around. The gun in his hand felt more and more heavier as time passed.

Suddenly, he heard slow and footsteps somewhere from behind the counter and felt scared again, clutching the gun tighter in his hand. Was it Aaron? Or Steve? What if it was someone else? But his doubt was cleared when he heard another voice that seemed a bit distant.

"Found any one of them yet?" The voice asked.

"Nope. Still looking." The nearer voice replied and dread filled Louis' mind since it was way closer to the kitchen.

He closed his eyes and tried hard to think what to do since his mind had gone blank and his body was too numb with fear to respond. But, too busy trying to come up with something, he didn't hear the footsteps grow closer until they stopped right beside him. His eyes shot open and he gulped when he felt a gun against the back of his head.

"Well, well, well. Look what I found?" He heard the man say and looked up, almost grimacing at the wicked smile on his lips.

The next thing he knew, he was yanked by his arm and the man was dragging him out of the kitchen. He struggled to get away but the man's hold was tighter. He wanted to shoot him like Aaron had instructed but couldn't quite get himself to do it.

However, his fear doubled when he tried to hit the man using the gun but he grabbed Louis' wrist, squeezing it until he couldn't bear as Louis' grip on the gun loosened and it fell to the floor.

"No." Louis whispered, trying to bend and get it but he was being dragged away again. 

Louis thrashed more as the man pulled him along towards the front door, seeing another man there. Somehow, Louis managed to kick the man holding him in the crotch and tried to run away when the other guy started towards him.

He didn't know where else to go so he went for the staircase, running faster when he heard their footsteps chasing him. Unfortunately, Louis tripped, twisting his ankle on the last step and groaned at the pain in his ankle from falling down. 

Before he could even recover and get up, he screamed in pain as he felt someone grab his bad leg, pulling him down. But he kicked the person away using his other foot and somehow got himself to run into one of the rooms before locking the door and resting his back against it, crouching down until he was sitting on the floor.

Looking down, he clutched his foot, groaning again at the building pain in his ankle now that his attention was on it. He heard banging and curses from the other side but he couldn't care less as he closed his eyes, being a million times thankful that he was fine and away from them for a while.

He could hear a couple of gunshots and screams, making him jump but sighed in relief when they were followed by a voice he was glad he heard again.

"Louis? Are you in there? Open up! It's me, Aaron!" He heard Aaron say along with a frantic knock and tried to get up to open the door but yelped and gave up as the pain in his ankle was unbearable.

So, he sat down and reached his hand for the knob before shifting away so Aaron could get in. Aaron sighed in relief upon seeing Louis was alright as he locked the door after getting in and looked at him on the floor.

"I told you to shoot!" Louis heard Aaron say and looked up at him.

"I'm sorry. I jus-I couldn't do it." Louis mumbled.

"Where's the gun?" Aaron asked again and Louis shrugged.

"It fell down. Somewhere in the living room." He replied and Aaron sighed before holding out his hand for Louis to take.

Louis, slowly, raised his hand and took it before trying to stand but ended up sitting back down, tears forming due to the painful pressure.

"What's wrong?" Aaron asked, looking down to check if there were any injuries but he couldn't see any. "What happened, Louis?" He asked again.

"I-I think I sprained my ankle." Louis said.

Aaron stared at him for a few seconds before crouching down and helping Louis to his feet, letting him lean on him.

"I need to get you out of here." He mumbled. "Can you walk?"

"Slowly." Louis replied and Aaron nodded before leading him out of the door.

It took them a good lot of minutes to finally make it down the stairs when Aaron's phone started ringing. He let Louis sit on the last step before answering it.

"Aaron?" He heard Steve say in a hurried voice.

"Steve?" He asked.

"Did you get Louis? Is he fine?" Steve asked.

"I did. He's alright. What happened?"

"I'm getting the car. But it'll take me some time. I have to deal with two idiots here. Eric is somewhere there, Aaron. Get Louis out of there and go get Eric. Bring Louis near the roadside, I'll be there." Steve told him before hanging up.

Aaron, quickly, shoved the phone in his pocket before bending down and picking Louis up, rushing for the front door.

"What happened?" Louis asked but Aaron didn't reply. He only wanted to get Louis away from the house, not wanting to put him in further danger. He knew that he could easily get in trouble now with his injured ankle.

They finally made it out of the house and Aaron looked around, cautiously, to make sure there wasn't anyone around but sprinted faster when he saw the headlights of a car behind them, hearing it come to a stop but he kept running.

Louis heard a loud gunshot letting out a scream as his body hit the ground, the mud scraping against his hands along with the ripping pain that returned in his ankle due to the impact. He rolled onto his side before opening his eyes and stilled when he saw Aaron lying a few steps away from him, squeezing his eyes shut in what seemed like pain. It took Louis a few seconds to see that Aaron had been shot in the leg.

"Aaron?" Louis whispered, trying to reach him but stopped when a painful kick was delivered to his stomach, knocking the air out of his body as he doubled over, his hand going over his stomach to assist the pain and tears blurred his vision.

Once having regained his senses, he wiped his face and looked ahead to see a man approaching Aaron. Louis tried to sit up but felt too weak so he tried to control his rigid breathing. Aaron screamed in pain as the man, he knew was Eric, pressed his foot on his bullet wound and he tried to shake his leg away, fruitlessly. He tried to get himself to reach his gun that had fallen when they did but Eric kicked it away.

Louis, finally, sat up and watched with horror as the man repeatedly struck Aaron's face using the back of his gun. He tried get the man away from Aaron but gave up when he was hit by the same weapon and felt a stinging pain in his head.

"No." Aaron said through gritted teeth. "Leave him out of this, Eric. Whatever you have is against me." He said, finally, using his other leg to kick Eric in the shin, making him grunt in pain before getting onto his feet.

Louis watched, not knowing what to do as the two of them broke out into a fight. The pain from his wounds was the only thing he was feeling apart from the fear and panic. But then Aaron's gun on the ground caught his eye and he crawled over to it.

"Get away from him." Louis said, wincing as he finally managed to stand up, raising the gun with his trembling hands and aiming it at Eric.


	23. TWENTY-THREE

Both Eric and Aaron turned to look at Louis, one in sheer mockery while the other utterly surprised at the instinct.

"Louis, no." Aaron mumbled, releasing his grip on Eric, earning a chuckle from him.

"You really think I'd buy the fact that you can shoot me?" Eric asked, sarcastically as he stepped forward but Aaron pulled him back, shoving him to the ground.

Honestly, even Aaron wouldn't believe Louis would be able to do it going by the fact that his hands were terribly shaking, plus he probably didn't even know how to use the gun since the safety was still on.

"Louis? Just put the gun down. Don't do it." Aaron coaxed but Louis shook his head.

"He'll kill you." Louis said, making Aaron sigh.

"He won't." Aaron said, wanting to get Louis out of here and stepped forward but groaned when he felt a sharp pain in his bullet wound and fell to his knees, losing the will to stand.

"Come on, Aaron. Let him do it." Eric said, smirking menacingly before looking at Louis. "Shoot me if you can."

Louis hesitated for a few seconds before Aaron saw him move his trembling finger to the trigger but he wasn't pulling it. He knew Louis would be scared to do it.

"The safety is on, Louis!" Aaron said, trying to get back up but Eric pressed his foot on his wound, making him cry out in pain.

Aaron looked up and saw Louis stared at the gun for a second before removing the safety. 

"Glad you figured it out." Eric mocked before lifting his own gun and aiming it at Louis. "Now, shoot."

Louis visibly went pale at the weapon that was pointed at him. He knew he couldn't pull the trigger. He couldn't kill someone. But he also knew that if Aaron died then there is a high chance that he would never get back home. He only wanted to threaten Eric but now he knew it had backfired.

He shifted his gaze to Aaron as if asking him what to do. Because he didn't know. He saw Aaron shake his head but he didn't know if it was real or he was just imagining it.

Aaron wanted to either talk Louis out of it or do something to stop him but he knew Eric. He knew he'd not hesitate to shoot Louis if he made the slightest movement. So, he just shook his head, hoping Louis would understand.

"Shoot, boy!" Eric said again, removing the safety of his gun. "Pull the trigger before I do!"

Louis turned his attention back to Eric, despite seeing Aaron frown from the corner of his eye. He closed his eyes, trying to focus and block the inner voices in his head that were screaming at him to drop the weapon. But with no other choice, he somehow got himself to move his finger.

Aaron panicked seeing Louis' finger move. He couldn't let Louis do something like that. As much as he wanted Eric dead, but he couldn't let Louis become a murderer like him.

Just as Louis pulled the trigger, Aaron ducked and pushed Eric out of the way but heard an ear-piercing scream erupt from Eric. Aaron got up, despite the pain in his leg and turned to look at Eric. He sighed in relief and anger as he saw the bullet had hit his shoulder, making him drop the gun as his hand flew up to assist the pain and bleeding.

Before Eric could do anything else, Aaron picked up his gun and shot him in the leg before rushing over to Louis, who was still trying to come in terms with what he had done.

"Louis, you need to go from here!" Aaron said, taking the gun from his hands before slightly pushing him away. "Louis?" He said again when Louis didn't respond, snapping him out of his daze.

"I-I sh-shot him." Louis whispered, almost in disbelief.

"You didn't do anything. He's fine. Now, go!" He said again. "Go to the roadside. Steve will be there! I'll get there soon."

"Leaving you here?" He asked in a low voice and Aaron sighed.

"Louis, just go!" Aaron said again.

"I won't go without you." Louis said.

"Louis, go!" Aaron said, nudging him away again but caught Louis when he stumbled at the pain in his ankle. "Sorry." Aaron mumbled, helping him to stand up straight again.

Louis only brushed Aaron's hands away before sitting down on the ground with a lot of difficulty, unable to find a comfortable position for his ankle and looked back up as Aaron looked confused.

"I'll wait." He whispered and Aaron rolled his eyes.

"You're so stubborn, you kn--" Aaron started but was interrupted by Eric.

"Kill me, Aaron. Just kill me like you wanted to." He said but Aaron didn't respond, feeling anger rage inside him.

He glanced at Louis once before turning around and going back to Eric. Once there, he crouched down, grabbing Eric's collar and dragged him over to his car. He went over to the opposite side so Louis couldn't see anything before slamming Eric's back against the vehicle. His hand went up and wrapped itself around Eric's throat as he, slowly, started squeezing it.

"Kill me." Eric said again but Aaron chuckled.

"Be patient. I will." He said, squeezing tighter, watching as Eric's face started turning red and he gasped due to lack of air.

Just as Eric felt he couldn't bear the pressure, Aaron released his grip, making Eric fall to the ground, clutching his throat and coughing profusely. He sat down and rested his back against the car, breathing heavily as he saw Aaron crouch down in front of him, his eyes filled with anger and pain.

"Why did you do it?" Aaron asked, squinting his eyes. 

"What are you talking ab--" Eric said but was cut off by his own painful scream as Aaron shot him in the other leg.

"You know very well what I'm talking about, Eric." Aaron said, pushing Eric's hand away from the wound as he replaced it with his, pressing down on the bullet the way Eric had done before. 

"Why?" He asked after a few more seconds, finally, removing his hand from the wound. "She was like your daughter! She worked for you!" Aaron asked, surprised when Eric let out a small chuckle.

"Well, who wouldn't when you have a daughter as hot as her?" He said and Aaron's jaw clenched in anger, unknowingly. "I bet even you couldn't make her scream the way I di--"

Aaron aimed the gun at his arm and pulled the trigger, not even letting him finish and watched as Eric struggled to keep up with the pain from the wounds.

"You have no idea how long I was waiting for this day, Eric. I wonder what your expression was when you learnt I had escaped." He said, seeing Eric shut his eyes, wincing at the blinding pain in his body. "You deserve this, you fucking pervert. She killed herself because of you and your little work-dogs. I lost everything I loved. Because of you! And I really hope you rot in hell." Aaron said before picking up the gun and shooting his arm again.

Normally, he would've thrown up at the sight of so much blood but right now he was too enraged to even care. He was what he had been before going to prison. Cold and heartless. Because the person in front of him didn't deserve any respect or sympathy in his eyes. Standing up, he shot another bullet into Eric's leg before realizing the gun was now empty. He threw it away and glanced at him one last time before turning to walk away.

"Come on, Aaron, kill me. That's what you wanted anyway. Shoot me in the head and get it all over with." He heard Eric say but didn't respond and continued walking back to Louis.

"I hope you bleed to death." He said turning back, hearing Eric scream in frustration and pain. "Pray for all your mistakes, Eric. You, probably, have only a few more minutes to suffer before you die."

Once he finally limped back to where he had left Louis, he saw Steve trying to get a resistant Louis to the car.

"Holy shit! Are you alright?" Steve said, placing Louis back down on the ground before looking at Aaron. His eyes trailed down to Aaron's wounded leg before looking up at his slowly bruising face.

"I'm fine." He mumbled, wincing at the pain as he sat down beside Louis.

"What the fuck are you doing? We need to go!" Steve said while Aaron only shrugged.

"You've got two injured legs to deal with." Aaron said. "I'll wait until you put Louis in the car. Then come and get me." He said, making Louis chuckle slightly

Steve sighed in annoyance as he saw Aaron place his hand against the bullet wound to minimise the bleeding.

"Of course." He said, sarcastically, as he bent down to pick Louis up and head for the car.

Once alone, Aaron looked at the bullet in his leg and concluded he had to see a doctor because the metal had definitely gone deep when Eric pressed it so many times. He glanced towards the distant car and saw a body lying behind it, smiling to himself as he realised Eric must have died or probably passed out from the pain. Seconds later, he saw Steve return and looked up to see him extend his hand and frowned.

"What?" Steve asked at his expression.

"I've got a bullet in my leg, Steve. I can't walk." Aaron replied and Steve rolled his eyes.

"You killed a guy in this condition. I don't think walking is tough." Steve said and Aaron huffed.

"It was adrenaline. Now it's gone. Come on, Steve. You helped Louis! Why not me?" Aaron asked.

"Because you are heavy as fuck! You're double his size!" Steve answered.

"And you are double my size!" Aaron retorted. "Please?"

"Fine." Steve mumbled before picking Aaron up the same way he did with Louis and walked back to the car and placed him in the backseat beside Louis, getting into the driver's side himself.

"Take us to a good doctor you know, Steve." Aaron said and Steve hummed in response before Aaron sunk back into the seat, closing his eyes. "I've had a long and satisfied night."

 


	24. TWENTY-FOUR

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, guys.. Something was wrong with my internet so I couldn't update. So I posted a longer chapter to make up for the wait! Hope you enjoy!!

Louis was million times thankful that they had finally halted at a hotel. He was craving for some rest and sleep. But the backseat of the car, for sure, wasn't comfortable. The hotel was one of Aaron's friends' and so they had gotten a room without much difficulty. Once there, Aaron let louis sit on one of the beds before Steve crouched down to remove his shoes. Louis winced as his hand went to his sprained leg, removing the comparably tight shoe from his bruised and swollen ankle.

"We'll have to go to meet Dave. He said he wants to see me and Steve." Aaron said and Louis sighed, knowing he might not get his sleep. "However, I'll leave you here if you promise me you won't do anything. No phone calls, no calling for help and no trying to escape."

"I won't. I just want to sleep. Moreover, I can barely walk." Louis replied and Aaron nodded. "Y-You can lock the door if you want."

"I can't do that." Aaron mumbled. "The staff around will get suspicious. The only reason I'm not taking you is because of your leg. Will you really not try anything, Louis?" He asked and Louis nodded. "Can I trust you? Be honest."

"You can. I promise." Louis said and Aaron sighed before talking again.

"Okay, I'm trusting you. Because you don't quite look in the shape to escape. And don't get yourself in trouble." Aaron said and Louis nodded as both Aaron and Steve were getting ready to leave.

"Wait." Louis said, making them stop and turn to him. "When will you get back?"

"I don't know. An hour, two at most? Why?" Aaron asked.

"Nothing. I just . . don't want to be alone for long." Louis replied.

"You have nothing to worry about, Louis. I assume you'll be safe in a hotel. But there isn't any danger for you since Eric is dead now." Aaron reassured him and Louis nodded. "Now, sleep. You need some."

Louis saw the two of them leave, closing the door before he laid down on the comfortable mattress and let his eyes close. Ironically, he didn't want to sleep now that he was alone. Aaron assured him but he still had his fear.

He pulled the duvet over himself and let his body rest for a few minutes. Just as he was almost about to sleep, he heard a knock on the door, startling him. Sitting up on the bed, he kept his eyes on the door as if he thought the only next move would be for it to come crashing down.

"W-Who is it?" He asked after a second knock and there was silence for a few seconds before the person spoke.

"Room service!" An almost cheerful voice said.

Louis' mind debated whether to answer it or not.

Room service? But he didn't order anything. Neither does he remember that Steve or Aaron did?

"Hello? Are you there, sir?" He heard the voice again followed by a knock.

"Yes. I-I'll be there in a minute!" Louis replied.

Maybe he was just over thinking stuff.

He sat on the edge of the bed, holding onto it as he got onto his feet. He looked for another second before limping over towards it. He looked through the peephole and saw a staff member standing there, a smile on his face which almost looked fake and . . nervous?

Louis shook his head out of the thoughts and grabbed the doorknob before, slowly, opening the door, leaning on it to get the weight off his ankle. The person's eyes visibly went wide seeing Louis.

 _Maybe, it's just because he recognised me as a celebrity_ , Louis thought to himself. He was about to ask something to the guy when, suddenly, a gun appeared to the guy's head before another man stepped beside him with a gun pointed to Louis.

Louis' first instinct was to close the door but the man put his hand and forced it back open.

"I wouldn't do it if I were you." He said, his voice deep and scary as he kept the gun aimed at Louis. "Don't make a noise and get back inside."

"What d--?" Louis started but the man cut him off.

"I said no words. Just get inside." He said and Louis felt too scared to move. His body felt paralysed.

Louis flinched as he saw the man advance towards him before he grabbed the back of Louis' shirt, dragging him inside. Louis screamed in pain as his ankle skimmed along the floor. He heard more footsteps get in before he was pushed onto the couch in the corner.

"No, wait. What are you doing?" The staff guy said as the man pressed the gun against Louis' forehead. "He's not a criminal. He's Louis Tomlinson!"

"I know who he is." The man replied, glancing back down at the boy in his grasp.

"You told me you had to arrest Aaron Stone!" The guy said again but the man holding Louis chuckled.

"I'd have arrested him if I were a cop in the first place." He said and the staff guy tensed up against the two men holding him.

"Wh-- what are you doing? I won't let you do it. This is illegal!" He protested. "I-I am going to go tell the manage--" He was silenced as the man standing beside Louis shot him straight in the head.

"No! Why did you do that? He was innocent!" Louis said.

"So, are you. Right? Don't speak unless I ask you to otherwise you could end up like him." The man growled, pressing the gun back to Louis' head, making him go pale. "Where is Aaron Stone?" He asked.

"Who-Who are you?" Louis managed to ask but regretted as soon as the man glowered down at him.

"You're not the one who'll be asking questions!" He yelled, grabbing Louis' throat and squeezing, almost choking him as his hands went up to try and release his grasp. "You will only answer what I ask you. Do you understand?" He asked again and Louis nodded, having no other choice and the man let go as Louis coughed, trying to take in air feeling tears form in his eyes. "Where is Aaron Stone?" The man asked again, pressing the gun harshly to Louis' head again.

"I-I don't know." Louis whispered, gasping as the man grabbed his collar and pulled him along, the pain returning in his ankle.

"Don't lie to me!" He seethed, removing the gun's safety.

"I'm n-not. I rea-ally don't know. I- He went s-somewhere, I d-don't know!" Louis said, frantically, wishing the man wouldn't kill him. The man stared at him for a few seconds before dropping him back on the couch, the gun still trained to his forehead.

"Check the room." He ordered the three men who had accompanied him, turning his attention to them while Louis noticed a vase on the table beside the couch through the corner of his eye. "Get rid of him and clean up the mess." He said, nodding towards the dead man on the floor.

Louis took it as his chance and picked up the vase, throwing it at the man's head. The man screamed, clutching his bleeding head with his hand before glaring down at Louis, making him cower into the couch as much as he could. Louis felt helpless and miserable, knowing he couldn't even run for the door or something to get out of this situation. He couldn't do anything as the man let out a few curses and before he knew, he struck him in the temple with the gun.

Louis let out a painful cry at the contact and grabbed his head as he started feeling dizzy. He saw two men rush over to help the man with his wound. He shook his head to try and stay awake as he saw the third guy approach him. He couldn't make out anything except for a blurry figure. The voices in his head were screaming for him to remain awake but he eventually gave up due to the pain and felt himself being roughly pulled up from the couch before letting darkness take over him.

 

* * *

 

"I killed Eric. He's dead." Aaron said and Dave seemed surprised at the news.

"What?" He exclaimed and Aaron nodded. "You killed him? When? You didn't even tell me."

"Last night. He started it. Tried to attack us in my home. I told you he'd find me. And I killed him." Aaron added.

"Good, then." Dave said, relieved that the man he wanted dead was finally gone. "And what about Vincent?"

"What about him?" Steve asked, seeing Aaron's confused look.

"Isn't he after you and that hostage of yours?" Dave asked.

"No. Eric's dead and their deal doesn't exist anymore. So, I don't think Vincent's a problem. He doesn't have a reason to come after Aaron, now." Steve replied.

"True. Eric is dead. You guys told me. But . . does Vincent know about it?"

 

* * *

 

Louis felt a splash of cold water on his face and his eyes fluttered open. He tried to use his hand to wipe the water away from his face but realised they were held tightly together behind his back. He groaned as both his head and ankle were throbbing in pain and looked down to see his ankles were tied to the chair's legs with some kind of a rope, too. Looking around, he was thankful that he was still at least in the hotel room and not in some place he didn't know.

It took a few seconds for him to regain his vision and breathing and saw the man from earlier sitting opposite the chair he was tied to along with his three men who were standing behind him. Louis would have asked him something again but noticed that there was a layer of duct tape that was sealing his lips.

"Thank God." The man murmured, playing with the gun in his hands. "I was starting to think I had put you in a coma. After all, you were out for more than an hour."

Louis only looked back at him in fear and disgust, having no other option. He looked at the room and noticed that it was a mess. 

"Well, my men tried to look for anything about where Aaron is. But we didn't find anything." The man added. "For some reason, I sense that you know where he is, don't you?"

Louis shook his head in response and the man smiled in sarcasm. He moved his leg forward and placed it just in front of Louis' sprained one. 

"Are you sure?" He asked, looking up at Louis teasingly as he placed his foot on top of the bandage that was wrapped on Louis' ankle, making him let out a whimper.

Louis shook his head again but the man only pressed more on his leg.

"So, you want me to believe that Aaron left you, his hostage, free to roam in a hotel like this knowing you are a celebrity and that almost all of England's cops are looking for you?" He said and Louis stared back at him with pleading eyes. "I don't know why but I don't believe it."

Louis closed his eyes, letting muffled cries escape as he tried to get his tied foot away from the man's since the pressure was too painful for him to bear. Unfortunately, he couldn't move it even an inch so he gave up and tears ran down his cheeks at the horrible pain.

"Oh, look. He's crying, now!" He heard the man say followed by a chorus of mocking laughs from the other men, making him cry more.

It was only after a few more seconds that the man finally left his foot and Louis cried more at the pain that followed.

"Quit being a crybaby!" The man said, his tone making Louis flinch as he tried to control his panic and fear. He removed his phone and dialled some number before putting the device to his ear but sighed as the person didn't pick up and he heard a beep to leave a voice message. "Pick up your Goddamn phone, Eric!" The man yelled into the phone before shoving it into his pocket and looking up at Louis.

 _Eric? But wasn't Eric dead?_ Louis thought but his body tensed up as he saw the man get up from the chair. He struggled furiously against the binds as the man approached him with the gun in his hand. He grabbed Louis' hair in his fist, holding him in place as he pressed the gun to his temple. 

"I'm going to ask you this for the last time. Do you know where Aaron is?" The man asked, removing the gun's safety and Louis whimpered, crying more. He shook his head again, trying to speak but the tape provided him no speech and everything only came out muffled. "Stop lying! He must've told you where he was going?" The man said again, pressing his foot on Louis' sprained ankle and he cried out in pain.

Louis shook his head continuously in between sobs, trying to convince the man he knew nothing. He regretted not going with Aaron. Maybe, he should have. But, right now, he realised it was too late. Tears spilled out of his eyes at the pain and fear as he squeezed his eyes shut, shivering in panic.

'Well, I guess, you're of no use to me then." The man said before pulling the trigger.


	25. TWENTY-FIVE

Louis prepared himself for death as he closed his eyes and saw the faces of his mum and sisters flash in front of his eyes as he let tears freely fall down his face.

"Well, I guess, you're of no use to me then." The man said before pulling the trigger.

Louis flinched at the sound of the click but the bullet never came out of the weapon. He opened his eyes, breathing heavily as he realised he was still alive while the man finally removed his leg from his ankle, making him whimper. Hearing the men all laugh, he looked up at the man standing beside him with wide eyes. The man chuckled, digging the gun further against Louis' forehead as he tightened his grip on his hair. He leant down, dangerously close to Louis' face, looking at him with evil and malicious eyes.

"You really thought I was going to kill you, didn't you?" He asked, mockingly, releasing his grip from his hair and moving his hand towards the shivering boy's cheek. Louis jerked his face away but the man grabbed his chin with a grip that hurt, forcing him to look ahead. "Killing you will only make Aaron turn up against me. Now, why would I want that to happen?"

He released Louis' chin but the gun was still stiff in it's position. Louis wasn't scared of it anymore since he knew it was unloaded. He breathed a sigh of relief upon knowing that he'd not die. At least, not today. But if they weren't going to kill him, then what were they going to do? A part of him wanted to know his fate but another thought it'd be better being oblivious. He looked down at his lap and only wished Aaron would return. He only wanted to get out of here. But, were they even going to come? Maybe, Aaron knew this would happen and he, purposely, left him alone at the hotel to get rid of him. For all he knew, Aaron's job of killing Eric was done.

 _No. No. Aaron wouldn't do that. He is a good person._ Louis convinced himself against the voice in his head. But the people in front of him weren't good, he knew for sure. 

"You're thinking what we are going to do to you, aren't you?" The man asked almost as if reading Louis' mind. Louis chose not to respond and looked away, closing his eyes. "Don't worry. We won't do anything to you unless you don't do as we say. However, you'll be our guest until Aaron comes back. But if he doesn't, then, I guess you'll have to start counting your last minutes."

Louis turned to look at him again, this time in disapproval of his words and the man chuckled.

"What happened? Don't like the idea? Don't worry, I have other suggestions, too." He said, patting Louis' head like a dog, further annoying him as he glared back at the man. "Maybe sell you off? I could get milli--" He was cut off by a noise from the door. The sound of someone trying to open the door but the men had locked it when they had entered. "Don't make a sound or you won't even be alive to regret it." The man said, pressing the gun to the middle of Louis' forehead.

Louis, reluctantly, nodded feeling scared again but the voice that spoke from the other side of the door made him feel a hundred times safer.

"Louis? Louis, open up!" Aaron said, after knocking again. "And why the hell did you lock the door, Louis?"

Louis shifted in his position when Aaron called his name which made the man glare at him, nudging the gun to his head again and Louis fell for it.  _Almost._ And then, he realised that the gun was unloaded. The man wouldn't be able to shoot him. But what if the other men did?

He brushed off the thoughts before screaming as loud as his dry throat and sore voice would allow through the tape. The frantic knocking stopped and he wished Aaron would've understood something was wrong. The man, however, wasn't amused and pulled the gun's trigger but nothing happened and he cursed under his breath, realising he had unloaded it earlier. He glowered down at Louis with a clenched jaw but Louis seemed unaffected by anything. 

Louis looked behind the man as a loud thud sounded from the door implying Aaron or Steve were trying to break it. Louis finally felt hopeful but his moment didn't last long as the man delivered a painful kick to his chest, making the chair fall backwards, taking Louis along as his head hit the floor, painfully.

White spots blinded his vision as he let out an awful cry filled with pain and agony. He could hear the door burst open followed by screams, gunshots but he couldn't get himself to see anything. He gave up and let his body go limp against the ropes as a few minutes later, he heard a familiar voice asking him if he was okay. Asking him to stay awake. But he couldn't any longer and finally let himself slip into oblivion again.

 

* * *

 

Louis felt a jolt of pain shoot through his ankle again and his eyes shot open as he, subconsciously, tried to pull his leg away. 

"Stay still." Someone said and he sat up, breathing a sigh of relief upon seeing Aaron sitting on the edge of the bed he had been lying on. He tried not to wince or pull away as Aaron wrapped a bandage on his ankle.

He couldn't explain how happy he was seeing Aaron and knowing he was alright. However, Aaron was unusually silent, his eyes trained on Louis' leg as he made quick and careful work with the gauze. Louis kept looking at him, sensing something was wrong. Suddenly, the door opened and Louis turned to see Steve enter with a bottle of water and a box in his hand, giving a small smile as his eyes met Louis'. He came up and offered Louis some painkillers.

"Why did you open the door?" Aaron asked, breaking the silence once he was done tending to Louis' sprained ankle. "Why did you, Louis?" He asked again when Louis remained silent.

"I- The guy said he had come for room service so I--"

"How stupid could you be to fall for that! We didn't order anything, Louis! You knew that." Aaron said, interrupting him.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm sor--" Louis whispered, looking down at his fingers but Aaron cut him off again.

"Don't apologise to me. You're the one who got hurt!" He mumbled. "What if something would have happened to you? They could have killed you, you know that?"

"Aaron, shouting at him will do no good. There's nothing he could've done. If he didn't open the door, then, they would have broken in anyway and hurt him more." Steve said and Aaron nodded in agreement, sighing to calm himself down.

"Lie down. You're head must be hurting." Aaron told Louis as Steve got up to leave with the things he had brought. And Louis realised that his head did hurt and there was a bandage wrapped around his head. Did it bleed when he hit the ground? He didn't remember. "Lie down." Aaron said again, placing his hand on Louis' shoulder and pushing him down until he was lying on the mattress.

He pulled the blanket over him, leaving his ankle uncovered before starting to leave.

"Aaron, I'm sorry." Louis said again, making him stop in his tracks and look back down at him.

"It's okay." Aaron mumbled before turning again.

"No! I know you're angry. I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have opened the door. I'm sorry, Aaron." Louis said, in an almost desperate tone and Aaron sighed.

"I said it's okay." He said, pushing Louis back down as he tried to sit up again. "And Steve was right. They would've hurt you more if you hadn't opened it." Aaron added before reaching to switch off the bed lamp.

"Who were they?" Louis asked in a low voice and Aaron looked at him.

"You don't need to know." Aaron replied.

"I want to. I was the one who had to deal with them! He-He was asking me where you were. And he w-was trying to call Eric!" Louis said, sitting up again but Aaron ignored him as he turned to leave again. "Aaron, no! You can't keep me unaware of everything. I deserve to know!"

"Just go to sleep." Aaron said, calmly but Louis wasn't in the mood to listen.

"Are you going to let me go home now?" He asked, his blue eyes showing much more hope than they ever had.

"Sleep." Aaron replied as he made his way to the door.

"No, Aaron! Wait!" Louis called after him, seeing him open the door to leave so he got out of the bed and tried to go after him but stumbled and fell down due to his bad ankle.

Hearing the sound, Aaron rushed back in and crouched down to help him up.

"When will I go home, Aaron?" Louis asked, again as Aaron pulled him up from the floor and started taking him back to bed. "Please, tell me."

Ignoring his question, Aaron made him sit on the bed before lifting his legs up and pushing him back down on the mattress but Louis shoved him away.

"I want to go home. It's been more than a week, Aaron! I can't do this anymore. Please, let me go." He pleaded and Aaron felt extremely sorry for his suffering. Surely, he understood that it must have been hard enough to be taken away from a luxurious life to this. "When will you let me go?"

"Louis, sleep. You need to rest." Aaron coaxed again but Louis only stared at him.

"But I want to go home." He whispered, his eyes slowly starting to fill with tears. 

"I-I can't tell you when." Aaron finally said and Louis let a tear escape.

"Why not?" He asked and Aaron only shook his head before pushing him down so he was lying on his back.

"Why not?" Louis asked, louder this time as he tried to push Aaron away again but failed. "Why not?!" He practically yelled and Aaron sighed.

"Because even I don't know!" Aaron exclaimed and Louis stilled under his grip. "Even I don't know, alright? I don't know when the cops are going to stop coming after me! I just don't know anything!" He finished and his tone almost scared Louis. "Now, sleep."

Aaron let him go before he stood back up. 

"But . . you promised me!" Louis retorted. "You promised me you will let me go once you kill Eric! You always break your promises!"

"No. I promised you I'll let you go once I kill Eric  _and_ the cops stop coming for me. Now keep quiet and sleep, Louis. Don't make me tell you again."

"Why should I keep quiet? I want to go back home, Aaron! I want to see my family, my girlfriend, my friends again!" He snapped, making Aaron sigh as he picked up the roll of tape from the bedside table. "I am done cooperating with you! I don't want all this anym--!" He was cut off, his words getting lost in translation as Aaron ripped off a piece and stuck it on Louis' mouth.

Louis angrily mumbled muffled protests and insults into the tape as his hands went up to remove it but Aaron held it there with his hands.

"Stop talking and sleep, Louis. Looks like the painkillers are taking their toll on you. Aren't you feeling sleepy, you've taken so many of them?" He asked before Louis tried hitting his face using his hands but after a couple of them, Aaron grabbed his hands and started wrapping the tape around them.

Once done, he placed Louis' bound wrists on top of his stomach before pulling the blanket, holding them in place when Louis tried to raise them to remove the tape.

"Calm down, Louis. Please." Aaron said, using his other hand to remove the few small strands of hair that fell on Louis' eyes before rubbing his forehead to calm him down. "You'll make your headache worse."

A few seconds later, Louis finally calmed down but couldn't stop the silent tears that escaped his eyes.

"I will let you go home, Louis. But, honestly, I don't know when. I can't make false promises to you anymore. Whatever happened to you today, I am really sorry for that. I shouldn't have left you alone. If it makes you feel any better, I killed that guy. It was Vincent. He won't come after you anymore. But, for now, I want you to sleep. Just stop thinking about everything and rest. Please. Will you?" He asked and Louis looked at him for a few seconds before nodding.

Aaron grabbed the tape and removed it from his mouth before taking the scissors from the first-aid box and cutting the tape around Louis' wrists.

"Please don't get up or walk around." He said, putting the scissors back. "You'll only hurt yourself more."

Louis nodded as Aaron switched off the lights and finally left the room while Louis closed his eyes, trying to go to sleep despite all the pain he was feeling in his body and mind.


	26. TWENTY-SIX

Louis had woken up a long time ago but didn't even attempt to get up from the bed. His head hurt a lot while his ankle had become numb with pain. Moreover, he wanted to go home more than he ever did. He could do anything to be with his mum, wrapped in her safe arms. To play and laugh with his sisters again. To go on dates and sit on the roof with Eleanor. To go on tours and shoots with the lads. He wanted all of this more than ever. And just wished he could go back home. The door opened, startling him out of his thoughts and he saw Steve and Aaron get in.

"How's your leg?" Aaron asked, leaning down to check if the bandage was still wrapped securely.

"Fine." Louis lied, even though he couldn't feel his leg.

He sat down at the edge of the bed while Louis sat up with Steve's help before he took the bowl of soup Steve offered him. Steve left the room, leaving the two of them alone and Louis felt uncomfortable for some reason. He didn't know what else to talk to Aaron except ask him when he'd go home. But the silence was unbearable.

"We'll be going to my home in Manchester, today." Louis heard Aaron say as he placed a pair of fresh clothes in front of Louis before starting to unwrap the bandage on his ankle. "In an hour. So freshen up if you want. Steve is leaving to day, by the way."

Louis looked down at the bowl of hot soup, the warmth of it against his hands felt good but he didn't want to have it.

"Why are you telling me all this?" He asked, looking up at Aaron, who stopped unwrapping the gauze and looked back at him.

"Fine. I won't tell you anything from the next time." Aaron mumbled, going back to what he was doing.

"Why is there still a next time, Aaron?" Louis retorted. "Why can't you just let me go?"

"We are not going over this again, Louis. I told you yesterday." He replied without looking up.

"You are just a liar! You break every promise you make to me. Your job is done. You killed Eric. You said you'd let me go, then, why aren't you?" He asked again. "I just want to go back to my life, Aaron! Please."

"Just have the soup and get ready. We have to go." Aaron said as he finished unwrapping the gauze and leant down to inspect his leg again.

"You answer me, first, and I'll have it then." Louis replied, making Aaron give him an annoyed look.

"Louis, just keep quiet and have the soup. Otherwise, I'll force you to have it before taping your mouth shut." He said.

"I don't care. Threaten me all you want but you can't stop me. I don't want to be here anymore. I don't want to keep running away all the time. I-I just want to be back in my tour bus and attending concerts and intervi--I want to go home. You don't know how it feels to stay away from the people you love." Louis said with teary eyes.

"Trust me, Louis. I know better than anyone. You were away for only over a week. But I haven't been there for my daughter for over six years. I haven't seen my wife since eight years. I don't even know which place I can call my home." Aaron said but Louis shook his head. "I know how you feel, Louis. I know how badly you want to go home. But please try to understand that I can't go back to prison, Louis. I brought you along for a reason. So I could convince the police department to release me for you. I know it's too much I'm asking for, Louis but please."

Louis looked up at him with a hint of sympathy in his eyes because Aaron's voice sounded so soft and broken at that moment.

"Everybody thinks I'm a criminal. They think I'm heartless and a monster. But did you know that you were the only person who thought of me as a friend ever since I came into all of this? Nobody knows my story, Louis. They don't know the reason why I had a grudge on Eric. Dave, Steve, none of them know. You were the first person I told the reason for Sherley's death to. You were the only person who understood why I had to do what I did. Even I don't want to be in this side of the world anymore. Even I want to go back to my life. Live with my daughter and give her everything she wants because I'm probably the worst father in this world. I don't even know the name of her favourite ice-cream." Aaron said, a small chuckle escaping past his lips before his eyes turned back to the sad and hurt ones. 

"You're not the worst father." Louis mumbled, making Aaron look back up at him. "You did what every man should do for their wife."

Aaron gave him a small smile but an awful silence followed the conversation before he finally spoke.

"I'm only asking for you to get me out of this situation, Louis. Just cooperate with me until the cops let me go and then I will let you go home. Trust me, Louis, I won't let you get in any other danger. I promise. And I don't break promises, Louis. I don't. I know you hurt your leg. You hurt your head. And I'm really sor--"

"It wasn't your fault I got hurt." Louis said in a low voice and Aaron sighed.

"I don't really get your mood changes sometimes, you know?" Aaron said and Louis frowned.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean, one second you call me a liar, a bad person, you say you hate me and another second, you say I'm a good person and that I have saved you so many times. It's kinda confusing." Aaron replied.

"Because you are a good person. You don't treat me the way you are supposed to." He said and Aaron creased his eyebrows.

"What are you saying?" Aaron asked and Louis shook his head.

"Nothing." He mumbled, looking down at the slowly cooling soup in his hands.

"No. What are you saying, Louis? What do you mean I don't treat you like I'm supposed to?" He asked again and Louis only sighed.

"Yesterday, when Vincent w-was in the hotel room, I-I understood how hostages are treated. How D-Dave wanted you to keep me. But you are not like them. You are different and . . kind. You, actually, care for me." He said, making Aaron more confused.

"Louis?" He called and Louis looked up. "Did he do something to you? Did Vincent do anything to you?" He asked in concern.

"No." Louis said.  _Lied,_ looking back down.

"Then why did you say you understood how hostages are supposed to be treated?" Aaron asked again. "Louis? What did he do?"

"Nothing. He did nothing." Louis said again, feeling tears form in his eyes again from everything he went through the previous day.

"Louis? Tell me." Aaron coaxed but Louis remained silent. "Louis, what happened yesterday?" He asked, shifting closer to him.

"I don't want to talk about it." Louis whispered without looking up as a tear slipped his eye and fell into the bowl.

Aaron noticed it and went over to sit beside him.

"You know you can tell me what happened, right? Louis, plea--" 

"It doesn't matter. It's over." Louis interrupted him.

Aaron reached for the bowl in his hands and placed it back in the tray on the table before placing his hand on Louis' shoulder.

"Louis, did he hurt you more? Please tell me. Tell me what happened yesterday." He asked again, pulling the smaller boy close to him in a comforting manner.

"I tried to fight, Aaron. But I couldn't. He tried to s-strangle me and threatened me with a gun, a-asking me where you were. I hit him with a vase but he knocked me out with his gun. W-When I woke up, I was tied to that chair a-and he found my weakness. He k-kept pressing on my ankle and t-they all laughed at me when I-I cried. He s-said if you wouldn't return so-soon then he'd kill m-me or s-sell me..I didn't l-like them at a-all. He p-put the gun to-to my head and al-almost k-killed me. And all the oth-others did w-was laugh at m-me--" Louis stopped as he broke into hysterical cries, making Aaron pull him into a hug as Louis buried his face in Aaron's shirt.

"I'm really sorry for leaving you alone, Louis. I shouldn't have. I'm so sorry. I won't leave you alone, again." He said, rubbing circles on Louis' back to calm him down.

He glanced down at Louis' ankle and realised that that's why it had become worse than it was. Because Vincent had hurt it more. He felt guilty for leaving Louis alone in the hotel room. He probably shouldn't have. None of this would have happened, otherwise. And now his mind was only filled with regret. He pulled away once Louis' cries had reduced to occasional whimpers.

"You need to get ready." He said, wiping Louis' face with his hands before helping him out of the bed and walking him till the bathroom.

 

* * *

 

Aaron stopped the car a few metres away from the airport as he and Steve got down before Aaron helped Louis out of the backseat. Louis looked around and noticed there were people around but knew nobody would even recognise him with the beanie and aviators he was wearing, especially without any guards around him.

"You sure you can take it from here?" Steve asked, looking at Aaron.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Aaron replied, smiling before Steve pulled him into a hug.

"Don't go to jail again, Stone. I'd miss you too much." He said, pulling away.

"I'll try." Aaron said, chuckling.

Steve turned to look at Louis, who smiled at him. Steve hugged him, too, almost crushing Louis with the grip.

"I can't believe I finally met a celebrity, you know?" He said pulling away and Louis smiled.

"In the most unlikely way." Louis said and Steve nodded in agreement.

"You promise me that you'll post me the first copy of your band's fourth album." Steve said and Louis nodded, holding up his little finger.

"Promise." He said.

"I will mail you my address on that e-mail ID you gave me. And I want a signed copy! By all five of you." He said and Louis nodded again. "Bye, Louis." Steve said, patting Louis' head before turning to walk towards the airport. "Ring me when you finally get out of the whole mess, Stone!" He yelled without turning.

Aaron turned back to Louis before walking him to the passenger side.

"You sure you want to sit here? Or maybe sleep in the backseat? It's almost a three hour drive from here." Aaron asked, once he had made Louis sit down.

"No, I'm fine. Sleeping in the backseat any longer could give me severe back pains." Louis answered, buckling his seatbelt in place. Aaron nodded before going over and getting in the driver's seat.

"But I'll need you to recline your seat a bit. Cops are seriously looking for you all over England. So, it's better to stay low." Aaron said and Louis hummed in response before doing as he was told.

He removed the beanie from his head and placed it on his lap, putting his hand to his head to make sure the bandage wrapped around his head was still good. A few seconds later, he removed the aviators and put them in the glove box.

It was really silent in the car for the next few minutes and Louis wanted for either of them to end it. Aaron was too busy driving and looking out for any policemen so Louis decided to do it.

"Aaron?" Louis called and Aaron hummed in reply, with his eyes still fixed on the road. "I'd really miss you after you let me go home."

"You would?" Aaron asked, smiling a bit at his words and Louis mumbled a yes. "Why? All I've done is got you in trouble."

"But you always saved me when others troubled me." Louis replied and Aaron sighed.

"Fine." He muttered. "I'd miss you, too."

"I'd miss going all around with you." Louis continued. "Not knowing what would happen next. It's like living on the edge. Just keep running all the time. For your life. I would miss you always telling me what to do. Dragging me along to places with you."

"Good to know you had a nice time." Aaron said, chuckling.

"What are you going to do after this?" Louis asked out of curiosity and Aaron shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe, get a nice job and a house. Which is more unlikely going by my jail record but I'll try to do something." He replied. "If I don't get arrested, that is. What would you do?"

Louis shrugged before answering.

"What I always do. Recording sessions, tours, shows, shoots, interviews. It's really busy and hectic being a celebrity." Louis answered and Aaron nodded.

There was silence again until they finally took a highway, the road almost empty except for a couple of cars behind them and one a few metres ahead. Louis started feeling sleepy again due to the painkillers but somehow got himself to stay awake. However, he frowned when Aaron stopped the car in the middle of the road and turned to look at him. He saw panic and fear on Aaron's features so he sat up straight and looked ahead. And he realised why Aaron looked like that. A few metres ahead of them were almost around ten policemen standing behind the barricades with their guns aimed at the car. At the two of them. Or, more precisely, on  _Aaron._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! Hope that chapter was good.. So this story is almost about to end. Probably, about four chapters left.
> 
> QUESTION : If I wrote a Larry Stylinson story, would you guys read it?  
> Please, let me know 'cause I have a nice plot for that, too. I'd love to know your opinion. I will post it once I'm done with this one if anyone is willing to read another story from me..


	27. TWENTY-SEVEN

Louis didn't know what to feel as he saw the policemen who were blocking their way. He felt happy that this might be his chance to get back home but at the same time, felt sad that Aaron would be going back to jail. But what worried him even more was the thought that Aaron could maybe hurt him again if the cops didn't listen like the last time. Maybe, he could just open the door and run away from Aaron but he couldn't get himself to do that. He couldn't do that to Aaron, for some reason. He had trusted Louis. He was the man who had saved him so many times. And he couldn't do that to him.

he turned to look at Aaron again, who was maintaining his gaze at the policemen while he moved his one hand to remove the gun from under the back of his shirt. He gripped the steering wheel with the gun-clutched hand before his other hand moved to the car's gear, ready to shift it. But Louis stopped him, knowing he was going to put it in reverse.

"Don't." Louis said, placing his hand on top of Aaron's. "They'll shoot you if you do." He added, not really knowing why he even cared.

Aaron retrieved his hand since he knew Louis was right. Instead, he turned back to look at the cops ahead as he gripped the steering wheel tighter, not even able to figure out what to do.

"What are you going to do?" Louis asked in a low voice but Aaron shook his head in defeat.

"I don't know." He replied.

Louis remained silent because he couldn't decide anything. He couldn't understand why he was feeling bad for Aaron. Why he wasn't just rushing out of the door to go home. Why he couldn't even get himself to move. Why he was thinking of ways to help Aaron out. Most of all, why he even cared. But he did. And once he saw one of the policemen motion for Aaron to get out, he looked down, he moved his hand to open the glove box and removed the pair of handcuffs he had seen there earlier.

Hearing the sound of metal, Aaron looked at him and gave a confused look. Louis only sighed before handing the handcuffs to Aaron and holding his wrists out in front of him.

"Louis, what are yo--?" Aaron asked but Louis interrupted him.

"Do it. Do what you wanted to do since the first day." He said, making Aaron even more confused. "Use me as a shield."

Aaron hesitated, trying to read Louis' face but when Louis gave him another nod, he locked the cuffs on his wrists before loading his gun.

"Why are you trying to help me?" Aaron asked, still confused and Louis Looked at him.

"Because even I don't want you to go to jail." He answered and Aaron creased his eyebrows.

He gulped before aiming the gun to Louis' forehead, making him close his eyes. Aaron could hear the cops telling something but he was too focussed on the boy in front of him. He couldn't understand why Louis was even willing to do something like this. All he had done was get him in trouble yet here he was, willing to help Aaron. Louis could have easily gotten away by now. Somewhere, even Aaron was expecting him to just run away from him and get home safely with the police's help. But he didn't and Aaron still didn't know why.

"Get out from the door." Aaron said a second later.

"What?" Louis asked, opening his eyes.

"Open the door and get down. Stand there and please don't run away." He said again and Louis nodded.

He turned to the door and opened it before stepping his bare feet on the warm road. Using the door as a support, he finally managed to stand up and Aaron helped him stand straight as he got down from the passenger seat, too.

"I'm sorry if I might hurt you, Louis." Aaron murmured before grabbing Louis' arm and roughly pulled him a few steps ahead of the car.

Louis winced but didn't make a sound as his ankle hurt at the move. Once there, Aaron wrapped his arm around Louis' torso, pulling him closer to  himself before pressing the gun to his forehead.

"Drop the gun, Aaron Stone. You're not going to get away this time." One of the officers, standing ahead of the others-Colton Dawson, said. "Let him go and step aside!"

"I will let him go if you agree to bail me out of jail." Aaron reasoned, digging the gun deeper against Louis' skin.

"Why would you even expect to be out of prison, Stone?" Dawson asked again. "You killed people before. Escaped from prison. You've killed them again. Threatened many using your gun. Stole almost ten different cars. Abducted a celebrity, holding him against his will. Your charges only keep increasing day-by-day. And so will your sentence. Now, drop your weapon and step away from Mr. Tomlinson!"

"I won't. Remove all charges against me and you're free to have him. Otherwise, I could just kill him, you know?" Aaron said, this time, removing the safety off the gun.

"Come on, Aaron. Let the poor boy go back home. Don't you feel like doing at least one nice thing in your life?" Dawson said and Aaron only chuckled, slightly.

"Trust me, officer. I've done a lot of nice things in the past few days. You can ask Louis if you want. He knows." Aaron said, nudging Louis forward, making him whimper at the pain in his ankle. "Sorry." Aaron whispered before pulling him back against him. "Now let us go or he dies!" Aaron added, placing the gun back to Louis' head.

"Don't play games with us, Aaron Stone. You know we're smarter than you. Now, drop your gun and step aside!" Dawson said again but Aaron wasn't going to listen.

"Either remove all charges against me and take him home or just let us go and save your poor boy from getting hurt again. Choose either of them or he'll die!" Aaron threatened but Dawson didn't seem affected because he knew he was prepared this time.

"You won't kill him, Stone. You can't. You would have done it the last time itself." Dawson mocked, knowing well it was true. He had spent days wondering why Aaron didn't kill Louis that day. He could have but he didn't. Because he _needed_ Louis to keep himself from getting arrested.

"Of course, I can. Why can't I? I'm a murderer, officer. Remember? You know very well why I went to prison in the first place, don't you? It won't take me more than a second to pull the trigger and he will die. But I don't think you'd want that to happen. You're gonna be regretting it later because even your job will, probably, be on the brink if he dies. Wouldn't want that to happen now, would we?" Aaron retorted, moving his finger to the trigger as if to prove his point. "So just do what I say and let's save Louis' precious life." 

No one said a word following that as both Dawson and Aaron maintained their cold stare at each other until Dawson finally spoke.

"Kill him." He said, taking Louis by surprise as everyone tensed up. There were murmuring protests from Dawson's teammates but stopped as soon as he raised his hand in disapproval.

Aaron frowned, not having expected that answer from Dawson while Louis felt angry and hurt at the same time as it reflected in the way he looked at Dawson with wide eyes. Aaron knew he couldn't kill Louis. There was no reason for him to. Even if he did kill him, there would be one more charge against him and they would arrest him anyway. Moreover, he wouldn't even be able to hurt Louis anymore. At least, not now that he was trying to help him. He couldn't do it.

"Kill him, Aaron! I don't care about him. I don't care about my job. I only want you dead or behind the bars. So, go ahead and kill him! Kill him!" Dawson said and Louis flinched at his tone, finally, understanding what he was trying to do.

Aaron gripped the gun tighter, ready to pull on the trigger but a few seconds later, his hold on Louis loosened and a smirk started making it's way onto Dawson's face. Louis frowned and turned to look up at Aaron in disbelief.

"No, Aaron. It's just a trick. Don't give up or you'll go to jail again." He whispered but Aaron ignored him while Dawson seemed confused with the hushed interaction between the two. "Shoot me if you have to. I don't care. Shoot me in the leg like th--" Aaron cut him off by clamping his hand on Louis' mouth before removing the gun from his head.

Louis removed Aaron's hand using his cuffed ones and looked at him again.

"What are you doing?" He asked again as he saw Aaron drop the gun to the ground before raising his hands in surrender.

He couldn't believe why Aaron was ready to surrender, even after he was willing to help him get out of this. And all this time, he didn't let louis let go because he kept saying he couldn't afford to go back to prison. Then why was he doing this now. Dawson's smirk grew as he saw Aaron step away from Louis before he nodded at one of his men and Louis noticed, feeling panic rise inside him as he realised what was going to happen next.

"No!" He exclaimed, hearing the first gun shot echo through the air as he rushed towards Aaron who fell to the floor, clutching the side of his abdomen in pain. The fall causing him to miss the shots that followed, much to Louis' relief.

But in his weak and slow efforts to reach Aaron, he almost forgot how he was as prone as Aaron to the shots. He let out a small wail as he felt the metal hit him just above the elbow and he fell to his knees, hearing a sickening crack as his ankle was bent backwards at the position it was forced in.

"Stop shooting! Stop shooting!" Dawson ordered, frantically, as the firing stilled and he rushed forward to remove the barricades to get to Louis.

Ignoring the blinding pain he was feeling, Louis managed to crawl over to Aaron before using his hands to press on Aaron's wound to aid the bleeding.

"I told you. Why did you do i--" Louis started but Aaron interrupted him.

"Go, Lou-is. You g-got shot. You sh-should go." He said, trying to push Louis away with his hands but Louis frowned.

"You got shot too. Don't worry, Aaron. They'll take you to the hospital, you'll be fine." Louis said, frantically, as he stopped himself from throwing up at the sight of Aaron's blood on his hands.

"L-Louis, try t-to take c-care of . . Sharon." He spoke through teeth gritted in pain, making Louis shake his head.

"No, you will take care of her! You can't di--"

"T-Tell her I-I'm so-orry and I . . l-love her." He continued.

"No! No, no, shut up! Aaron, you'll be fine. You can't die! Please." Louis kept saying as he heard footsteps. "Take him to the hospital! He's going to die!" He yelled at the policemen who were approaching them before turning back to Aaron.

Seconds later, he felt a pair of arms drag him away from Aaron and saw a couple of people surround Aaron as they blocked Louis' view of him.

"No! No, let me stay with him!" He yelled, weakly, trying to struggle against the strong grip.

"Sshh, Mr. Tomlinson, you're fine. You're safe, now. Calm down" Dawson said, wrapping his arms around the fighting boy in an attempt to calm him down but Louis wasn't listening.

"Save him! He's going to die. He's going to fucking die! Please, save him! Please!" Louis pleaded, his body shaking involuntarily as tears streamed down his face. 

"It's okay, Mr. Tomlinson. He deserves to die. You don't have to do everything he says now." Dawson said, rubbing Louis' forehead as another policeman started tying a cloth around the bullet wound in Louis' arm to stop the bleeding. Louis kept struggling to get away as he tried to look at Aaron. "Look at me, Mr. Tomlinson. It's okay! It's okay! He won't hurt you anymore."

"No, he didn't hurt me. He didn't hurt me! Just save him, please! He shouldn't die! He's a good person. Please, take him to the hospital! Please." Louis begged, holding onto Dawson's shirt with his bloody and cuffed hands as he looked at him with pleading and sad, blue eyes.

"Please, calm down, Mr. Tomlinson. It's oka--"

"No! Save him! He can't die, please!" Louis said before he saw  Dawson nod at someone behind him and two men carried Aaron's unresponsive body to a van. "Where are you taking him? Where are you taking him??" He asked, struggling more as he saw a policeman approach them, uncapping a syringe in his hand.

Louis let out a distressed whimper, cowering more into Dawson's arms as he felt the needle sting his skin. A few seconds later, he started to feel the drug influence his system as his eyes felt heavy and started drooping shut.

"Please, save him. Please." He whispered, one last time before going limp and unconscious in Dawson's arms.


	28. TWENTY-EIGHT

Louis heard an awful beeping noise and groaned as it made his head hurt more. He wished he hadn't woken up and just wanted to sleep again but the sound was irritating him, making his head pound. All he knew was that he was in pain and it made his headache worse. He moaned again, wishing someone would turn the sound off. However, his mind started calming down as he felt a hand run it's fingers through his hair. His first instinct was to flinch and slap the hand away but he recognised the familiar and nice touch. He knew it like the back of his hand.

Slowly, opening his eyes, Louis saw nothing but white. He didn't know if it was because something was wrong with his vision or was the ceiling really white. He couldn't make out. His eyes searched around the room until they fell on a person sitting beside his bed. He smiled, recognising the person even though all he could make out was a blurry outline.

"Mum?" He called in a hoarse voice and he heard her voice, finally, gaining his vision.

"It is me, Louis. You're fine, now." He heard her say as she placed her hand on his cheek. "I'm so glad you're okay, Lou. I thought I wouldn't see you again."

And he was so glad he saw her again. But he didn't have the energy to speak anymore. He only closed his eyes and let a tear escape his eye, feeling million times happy that he was with her. He opened his eyes and lifted his hand to touch her but it was pulled back by what looked like tubes and wires. She took his hand and, gently, placed it back on the bed before holding it there with hers.

"Take me home, mum." He whispered, looking at her as she forced a smile on her sad face.

"I will, Louis. Once you get well." She replied and he shook his head, slightly.

"But . . I want to go now. Please." He whispered, again.

"I know you want to, Lou. But you just need recover soon and we'll go home. Just a few more da--" She was interrupted when the door opened and the doctor walked in along with a nurse in tow.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Tomlinson?" He asked with a notepad in his hand.

"Sleepy." Louis mumbled in reply as the doctor hummed in response and wrote something down on his pad. 

"Of course, you would be. We had to sedate you because the last time you woke up, you had a major breakdown. Don't you remember?" He asked and Louis frowned because he didn't. "Seems like the drug's still affecting you. Just rest for as long as you can because your broken ankle will take some time to recover. Als--"

Louis' mind blocked all the sounds around him as it hovered over one thought.  _Aaron._ And he felt like crying again. Because Aaron had died. For him. He still wondered why Aaron did that. Trying to surrender so Louis could be alright. Did he not think about Sharon? Louis creased his eyebrows as he, vaguely, remembered Aaron asking him to take care of Sharon. Why did he even do that? And now he was no more and it was all his fault.

"Louis?" He heard the doctor's voice, snapping him out of his thoughts, as he felt his hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" He asked Louis.

"Where's Aaron?" Louis managed to ask, even though he knew the answer.

The doctor retrieved his hand before sighing as he looked at Louis.

"I am not supposed to mention anything about him to you, Louis. I'm sorry. Moreover, it might be overwhelming for you to think back to whatever happened in the past few days. Please, don't try to. Alright?" He said and Louis nodded, reluctantly. "You'll be fine, Mr. Tomlinson. Don't worry. He won't be around to hurt you anymore."

His words made Louis sadder. Because he didn't want anyone to think about Aaron in that way. He hadn't hurt him. And, definitely, not in the way they think. But he did a feel a knot in his chest knowing that Aaron wasn't alive anymore. He felt a heavy weight on him, thinking that he was safe and back to his life and that was the reason why Sharon had lost her father. And Louis didn't want to be happy being the reason for someone else's sadness.

"Mrs. Tomlinson, I think it'd be better if you just let him rest for some time." He heard the doctor say again before he saw him leave with the nurse.

"Go to sleep, Louis. You'll be fine." She said and nodded before she kissed his forehead and left.

But he didn't want to be alone. He wanted to talk to someone. He wanted to see his sisters. He wanted to see Eleanor and the boys. He wanted to apologise to Niall and Harry for not talking to them properly when he saw them. Most importantly, he wanted to, at least, know what happened to Aaron because he, sure as hell, didn't want to assume he had died. 

He let a fresh set of tears, filled with happiness and pain, slip from his eyes as he stared at the white ceiling of the hospital room.

 

* * *

 

"Oh and you should know, Zayn cried!" Niall said, excitedly, as everyone including Louis chuckled, making Zayn frown.

"As if you guys didn't!" He retorted, snatching the bag of crisps from Niall's hands, who gasped in disbelief.

"Hey! Give me back my crisps!" He exclaimed, reaching for it but Zayn moved it away before starting to eat from it.

"Stop it, you two." Harry said, rolling his eyes at the two of them. "Now, let's talk to Louis." He said, noticing that Louis had managed to space out again, blankly staring ahead at the wall in front of him.

"Louis?" Liam called, almost making him jump. "What happened?" He asked but Louis just shook his head before forcing a smile.

He opened his mouth to ask something but the door opened and a nurse came in.

"What is going on? I thought I made it clear that not more than two people are supposed to be in here!" She said, making all four of them groan in disappointment. She gave them a stern look as she placed the tray she had been carrying by Louis' bedside.

"Fine. We'll leave." Harry said, standing up, followed by the others. "Let's go, boys." He said and Louis frowned as a chorus of  _Bye, Louis!_ was heard and they started walking towards the door. But Louis didn't know what to do. he wanted to be alone but, at the same time, not.

"Liam?" He called in a low and weak voice once everyone had left and Liam was the last one to leave. He stopped and turned back to look at Louis. "Stay. Please. I don't want to be alone." Louis said again and Liam nodded before sitting back down on the chair beside Louis' bed that Harry had been occupying.

Liam just remained silent and watched as the nurse gave Louis painkillers and injections before changing the bandage on his ankle and left. The silence continued even a few seconds after she had left.

"What happened to you, Louis?" Liam asked, placing his hand on Louis' shoulder. "You seem . . distracted." He said and Louis sighed.

"Can I ask you something?" Louis asked.

"Of course." Liam said and Louis took in a breath before speaking.

"Where is Aaron?" He asked, taking Liam aback.

"What?" Liam exclaimed and Louis nodded. "Why are you asking about him?"

"Please tell me, Li." Louis said again and Liam frowned, shaking his head.

"I-I shouldn't tell you. You don't have to worry, Lou. He i--"

"No. I'm not scared. I just want to know." Louis said, interrupting him.

"I can't tell you. There's a restraining order. I'm not supposed to talk about him." Liam replied.

"But I want to know. I- Just tell me if he is alive, Liam. Please?" Louis asked again.

"I shouldn't tell you anything, louis. Try to understand! Why do you want to know about him anyway? He's a fucking criminal! A murder--"

"He's not like that! Don't talk about him like that." Louis said, surprising Liam.

"What are you talking, Lou? That man is a criminal! He kidnapped you, held you for a more than a week. He hurt you!" Liam said.

"He didn't!" Louis said, raising his tone. "He didn't hurt me! He is not a bad person!"

"Care to explain your condition, then?" Liam said in the same tone, pointing at Louis' wounds.

"It wasn't him! He didn't do anything! You don't know him so don't talk that way!" Louis said, almost on the verge of tears.

"Then, who did, huh? We know he shot you, Louis. He was probably the one who broke your ankle and head, too!"

"No, he wasn't. He wasn't!" Louis said.

"Why the hell are you even trying to defend him, Louis?" Liam exclaimed, raising his hand to reach Louis' shoulder again but Louis flinched at the tone of his voice and Liam instantly regretted it.

He sighed, heavily, running his fingers through his hair before looking at Louis, apologetically.

"I'm so sorry, Louis. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you." He apologised, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around Louis as he felt Louis nuzzle his head in his shirt. "What did he do to you, Lou. Why are you trying to defend him?"

"He's a good person, Liam. He's not bad. He didn't hurt me. I-I'm not lying. He is not a criminal. He died because of me. Because he didn't want to hurt me." He heard Louis say and sighed again.

"You don't have to stick up for him, Louis. He's not here anymore. He deserves to die, Louis."

"Don't say that." Louis whispered against Liam's shirt.

"He does. Do you even know how much we missed you, Louis?" Liam said, pulling away and wiping away a couple of tears streaking Louis' cheeks. "Harry would cry to sleep everyday. There wasn't even one night when Eleanor wouldn't call me for updates. Zayn would smoke, excessively, to get rid of the tension saying he missed his partner-in-crime. Niall, literally, stopped eating. Think how unusual that is!" He added making Louis chuckle slightly. "Forget about him, Louis. You're back with us now. Isn't that enough?"


	29. TWENTY-NINE

Louis sat silently as Harry and Eleanor kept filling him in with weirdly funny jokes to keep him entertained. While he did appreciate the effort everyone was putting in to make sure he was fine, but he really didn’t want it anymore. Their conversation was interrupted by a knock and the three of them looked over to see Colton Dawson standing at the door along with his assistant, the doctor and a nurse.

The doctor entered before motioning for Colton Dawson to do the same as he allowed them to sit down on the couch situated opposite Louis’ hospital bed. Louis was still confused as to why Colton Dawson had to see him now. There was no reason anymore.

“How are you feeling, Mr. Tomlinson?” Dawson asked, making Louis give him a small nod.

“Better.” He answered, his eyes watching as Dawson removed a small device and placed it at the end of Louis’ bed. Something that seemed like a recorder.

“Mind if we talk to you about the case for a while?” Dawson asked, looking back up at Louis.

“What case?” Louis asked back.

He couldn’t understand what case he was talking about. What was the need for a case when the person you were filing it against was dead? _Aaron is dead, isn’t he?_ Louis thought again. For the last few days, he had been asking everyone if Aaron was okay and they did tell him he died the day Louis was rescued. And when he’d try to talk to them about Aaron’s story, they would just brush it off saying the doctor said he had something called Stockholm Syndrome.

“The case regarding your abduction, Mr. Tomlinson. Why?” Dawson questioned and Louis frowned.

“And you’re filing the case against . .?” He trailed off, hoping Colton would understand and answer.

“Aaron Stone.” Came the reply in a confused stone and Louis stilled for a second before turning to look at Eleanor and Harry. But they weren’t meeting his eyes. “Why did you ask?” Dawson asked, making Louis turn back to him.

“Aaron’s alive?” He asked in disbelief and the tension in the room could easily be sensed.

“He is. Weren’t you aware of it?” Dawson replied and Louis felt a heavy weight lifted off his chest.

“Uh, we did not tell him.” The doctor answered before Louis could. “Because it could have proved harmful for his mental stability since he was recoveri—“

“I am mentally stable.” Louis snapped. “I don’t have any mental illness or whatever you call it. H-How could you lie to me?” He asked in an almost broken voice, looking at Eleanor and Harry.

“Mr. Tomlinson, why don’t we talk about the case, first?” Dawson asked and it took Louis a few seconds to finally nod but not before asking a question himself.

“How? How is he alive?” Louis asked and Dawson sighed.

“You practically begged us to save him when you were being rescued. So, upon your doctor’s insistence, we waited until now for an explanation.” He replied. “Tell us everything, Mr. Tomlinson. From the beginning.”

Louis didn’t want to say anything. He, sure, was relieved that Aaron was still alive but anything he’d say about what happened would lead him back to jail. Dawson, however, noticed the change in Louis’ expressions as he tried to find out what was going on in Louis’ mind.

“Don’t arrest him.” Louis finally said, making Dawson give him a confused look. “Please.” Louis added.

“Maybe we could decide that later, Mr. Tomlinson. But first, we want you tell us your experience. So, we can decide to what extent we can sentence him.” Colton Dawson said and Louis blinked, not wanting to tell anything. “Tell us from the start.”

“I-I don’t know w-where to start.” Louis stuttered, making Dawson shrugged.

“How about the part where he took you from your home?” He said and Louis swallowed, remaining silent as he only looked back at Dawson. “Mr. Tomlinson, you might think hiding details from us will be fine but, trust me, that way he won’t get what he deserves. Just tell us everything and I assure you that he won’t be a threat to you or anyone associated with you, anymore. I promise you’ll be safe an—“

“I am safe. I know I am safe. I jus—He didn’t do anything. Don’t arrest him.” Louis said again.

“Why are you sticking up for him, Mr. Tomlinson? He is a criminal. He is the person who kidnapped you from your home, held you for over a week and, most importantly, hurt you. Didn’t he?” Dawson asked.

“He didn’t. He is not a criminal and he did not hurt me.” Louis answered in a low voice.

“Okay. So, he did not do anything to hurt you?” Dawson asked and Louis nodded, making him sigh before he spoke again. “Um, I forgot to ask but . . what happened to your ankle, Mr. Tomlinson? Did you have an accident or something?” He asked, sarcastically and Louis clenched his jaw as he thought of an answer.

“I fell down the stairs.” Louis, quickly, answered, making Dawson cock up an eyebrow as he nodded.

“Maybe be a bit more careful next time you’re on . . stairs. And your other injuries? The hit to the back of your head?” He asked.

“I hit my head to a step when I fell.” Louis replied and Dawson remained silent for a couple of seconds before clearing his throat.

“You tripped down the stairs and, as a result, you hit your head?” He asked and Louis nodded, firmly. “So, was the fall so fatal that you _broke_ your ankle?”

“No. I twisted it. It broke when you shot me and I fell.” Louis retorted, making Dawson go silent out of guilt.

“I’m really sorry for that, then.” He mumbled before asking again. “What about the time at the club when you saw Niall Horan? He slammed your head against the passenger side to knock you out before threatening to kill you if we didn’t oblige. Was that real or just our imagination?”

“He did that to get us out of there.” Louis defended.

“Okay, fine. But what about day-three in California when he had you bound and helpless and shot you in front of us? Do you have an explanation for that? Because I do remember you being scared and terrified. Was it all an act, then?”

“He only did that to save himself from being arrested!” Louis said, his voice raising a bit.

“Do you have anything to say about the people who were found injured and dead at a house you two were reportedly halting in, somewhere near the outskirts of Cardiff? Someone named Eric Smythe, CEO of a famous firm, was also reported dead. Do you, by any chance, happen to know him?” 

“Yes. I-I mean, I don’t know who he is but . . I know h-he and Aaron had some r-rivalry. Aaron killed them because t-they were there to kill him. T-To take me. H-He ju-just did that to save me! To save us!” Louis replied, as his voice seemed close to breaking down again.

“Mr. Dawson, I suggest you tone it down a bit. He could have a meltdown again.” The doctor said in a calm demeanour.

“And you gave him access to your credit card?” Dawson asked, ignoring the doctor.

“No, I did not give him access. I had to use them. For myself.” He lied again and Dawson nodded, sarcastically.

“According to the records, your card was swiped at three airports, food courts and conventions, a hospital, clothing stores, medical shops . . everything sounds normal, Mr. Tomlinson, until we found something unusual. It was used to buy a .22 revolver along with bullets. I wonder why you would need that, then?” He asked but sighed, heavily, when Louis remained silent. “I don’t understand why you are even bothering to defend him, Mr. Tomlinson. That man has done nothing but hurt you. He is a criminal with numerous charges against him and your kidnapping is one of them! Why aren’t you just telling us everything so we can put him behind the bars? Where he belongs!” He said, his tone almost making Louis flinch.

“Mr. Dawson, keep your voice down. This is a hospital room. Not your police station.” The doctor warned and Dawson nodded in understanding as he muttered an apology.

“Mr. Tomlinson, why did you ask us to save him? Why didn’t you just let him die?” He asked in a way calmer tone.

“Because he doesn’t deserve to die. Because he is not a criminal. Because he is a good person. Because he’s human.” Louis whispered, feeling tears sting his eyes again. “Please don’t arrest him. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“That doesn’t justify him killing and threatening the number of people he di—“ Dawson said but Louis interrupted him.

“Please, listen to me, Mr. Dawson.” He requested and Dawson nodded at him to continue. “He is a good person. Y-You just don’t know him. You don’t know h-his story. Wha-Whatever he did, it wasn’t intentionally. He did everything for his family. For his wife.”

“He has no wife, Mr. Tomlinson.”

“No, he does. He did. She killed herself seven years ago. She killed herself because she was raped by her colleagues. By Eric and the people he had killed before. He did what a person should do for his wife.”

“Killing isn’t a solution to use, Mr. Tomlinson. I hope you understand tha—“

“No, you don’t understand anything! Nobody does. No one helped him so he had to do what he did!” Louis yelled. “What would you do, Mr. Dawson, if your wife went through the same thing? What if she kills herself because of that? Wouldn’t you want to see them suffer? Or would you just put them in prison like you do to everyone else?”

Eleanor reached for Louis’ hand to calm him down but he couldn’t get himself to while Dawson remained calm as he let Louis speak.

“He is not a criminal. He is a good person and he did not hurt me intentionally. He surrendered himself that day so I wouldn’t get hurt anymore. Try to understand, Mr. Dawson. He has a seven-year old daughter waiting for him to come home. I want to talk to someone about this but nobody wants to listen to me! I am not crazy! I am not lying! I do not have Stockholm Syndrome or any kind of a mental condition! I just have sympathy towards a person who has been through so much! And if you people can’t understand that, then, you are just as heartless and cold as you think Aaron is!”

“Mr. Dawson, I think you should just end it for today.” The doctor said and Louis wiped his tear-streaked face before turning to see the doctor pick up a syringe he knew all too well since the past couple of days.

“I’m fine! Don’t give that to me again!” Louis argued, seeing him uncap the syringe. He wasn’t met with a response but saw the nurse usher Dawson and his assistant out of the room. “No! No, Mr. Dawson! Just listen to me. Listen to what I have to say! He is not a bad person! Don’t arrest him.” Louis called but Dawson gave him an apologetic look as the nurse asked them to leave before she looked at Harry and Eleanor, giving them the same expression.

Louis looked at them in hope that they wouldn’t leave him alone. But they did. And Louis watched with teary eyes as Harry got up, giving Louis a reassuring smile before pulling Eleanor along.

“No, El! No. Please stay. Don’t leave! Just listen to me once. Please?” Louis called, desperately and Eleanor could only watch back with tears as Harry led her out of the room.

Louis didn’t even resist as he was made to sleep back down on the bed before he saw the doctor look down at him, sympathetically. He just squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the needle sting in his arm, letting out a distressed whimper.

He opened his eyes once the needle was out of his skin and looked at the doctor standing beside the bed.

“Just listen to me. Please.” He whispered, feeling himself losing consciousness again.

“You’ll be fine, Louis. Just rest for a while.” He heard the doctor say as he soothingly rubbed Louis’ forehead and Louis let himself give in to the drug and exhaustion.


	30. THIRTY

“Hey, Zayn?” Louis called out to him and heard him hum in response from his chair beside Louis’ bed. “Could you do me a favour?” He asked and Zayn gave him an amused look.

“What favour?” Zayn asked and Louis sighed deeply before answering.

“I want to see him.” He said as quickly as he could and Zayn shook his head.

“Lou, it’s the fifth time you’ve asked me that since the last two days.” He said. “Why do you want to see him?”

“Please, Zayn. You know, I’m getting discharged today and I really want to meet him.” Louis said again.

“Why do you want to meet someone who had kidnapped you, Louis? Are you out of your mind?” Zayn asked and Louis sighed.

“He is a good person, I’ve told this so many times. At least, tell me which room he is in.” He said but Zayn shook his head in disagreement. “Look, Z, if you don’t help me, I can find him on my own.” Louis added, making Zayn scoff.

“You can’t even walk two steps with your broken ankle.” He stated, pointing at Louis’ heavily-bandaged foot.

“I can. No one here allows me to.” He replied.

“Okay. Then, go. Go and find him on your own.” Zayn said, making Louis frown because he really couldn’t walk without help.

“Zayn? Zaynie? Please.” Louis said again, stressing on the last word in an attempt to convince him. Zayn turned to give Louis a denying look but sighed again before speaking.

“Don’t give me your stupid, puppy eyes.” He snapped. “I can’t let you see him. There’s a restraining order, Lou! I could get arrested!”

“No, you won’t. I won’t let you get arrested! And-And if they do, anyway, then I’ll come with you. We’re partners-in-crime, remember?”

“Oh, no, no. Don’t play that card on me! And stop with your puppy eyes! They’re bothering me.”

“But, Zayn, please?” Louis tried again and, this time, Zayn looked at him with sympathy.

“Fine.” He mumbled, standing up and Louis smiled widely at him. “Don’t get too happy. What if someone from the staff sees you outside?”

Louis shrugged before pulling the hood of his jumper over his head but Zayn looked unconvinced.

“It doesn’t work, Louis! You think you put on a hood and nobody will recognise you?”

“It could work.” Louis mumbled as Zayn helped him stand up from the bed.

“I want you to get it done as soon as you can. I am doing it only for your puppy eyes and promise me, you won’t get into any trouble again.” Zayn said and Louis kept nodding for everything. “Also, promise me you won’t tell anyone else about this. Especially, the cops.” He added and Louis nodded again. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

Zayn helped Louis till the door before seeing if someone was outside. Luckiy, none of the staff members who were supposed to check on Louis were there and he knew that Liam and Niall had gone with Paul to the reception for some paperwork. He took in a deep breath before helping Louis walk out and down the corridor. It took them a few minutes to finally reach the room at the end he knew Aaron was in.

“Once again. Are you sure?” He asked, looking at Louis once they were outside the door and Louis nodded without hesitation before he reached for the doorknob, opening it as Zayn helped him in before anyone else could see.

Aaron looked up at the door and was surprised to see Louis enter. He watched silently and in confusion as Zayn made Louis walk over to a chair beside his bed and let him sit down.

“Hey.” Louis mumbled after a few seconds of awkward silence.

“They let you se me?” Aaron asked, confusedly and Louis was about to answer but interrupted.

“No. He manipulated me into sneaking him out of his room to yours.” Zayn replied and Louis rolled his eyes at him.

“And the cops outside let you in?” Aaron asked again and Louis smirked.

“There are no cops outside. You’re not going to get arrested again, Aaron. I told them. I told them your story. And they did find evidence for it. Against the people you killed.” Louis told him. “You won’t go to jail, Mr. Dawson told me. You can go back to Sharon and take care of her.”

“Thank you, Louis.” Aaron finally said after a few seconds.

“I owed you. You saved me eight times, this was the least I could do.” Louis said, smiling at the person in front of him. “I’m getting discharged today.” He continued, a few seconds later.

“Good for you. You’ll finally go home.” Aaron said and Louis nodded, happily. “I’m sorry, Louis.” He added a moment later. “For everything you had to go through because of me.”

“It’s okay. It’s over, isn’t it?”

“How’s your leg?” Aaron asked and Louis shrugged.

“Hurts more. I broke it the day you got shot. But it’s still better.” He answered, glancing down to Aaron’s bullet wound. “Why did you try to save me that day?” He asked but Aaron chose not to answer. “You’re a good friend, Aaron.”

“That was a nice joke. I’d have laughed but it hurts like hell.” Aaron said, making Louis shake his head, slightly.

“It wasn’t a joke. You are a good friend.” Louis said.

“I’m your captor, Louis. And captors can never be friends.” Aaron replied.

“But you are.”

“So are you.”

They were interrupted as Zayn cleared his throat and turned to look at him.

“Sorry to interrupt your friendly reunion but could you guys do it faster. I don’t want to get arrested for this.” Zayn said and Louis frowned.

“Stop being a drama queen, Z. I won’t let you get arrested.” Louis retorted, making Zayn sigh in annoyance.

“You’re getting discharged in about ten minutes, you know that, right? If you’re not in the hospital room then Paul’s gonna keep me grounded for a week!” Zayn said and Louis nodded before turning back to Aaron.

“Go, Louis. You should be in your room. Don’t worry about me. I’ll, probably, be getting in a couple of days, too.” Aaron said.

“Tell Sharon that Mr. T misses her.” Louis said, making Aaron smile.

“We’ll keep watching you on TV.” He said.

“Maybe, I’ll give you a ring later.” Louis said.

“You don’t have my number. I don’t even have a number. Maybe you could give me yours so I could call you when I get a new one.” Aaron said in reply.

“You broke my phone. Remember?” He replied and both of them sighed before looking at Zayn.

“What?” Zayn snapped and Louis shrugged. “Oh, no. No, no. I’m not giving him my number.”

“Zayn, please. Zaynie?” Louis said again.

“I fucking hate you, Lou. Keep your puppy eyes to yourself!” Zayn said, picking up a bandage roll and writing down his number with a pen before handing it to Aaron. “I want you to delete my number as soon as you get Louis’.” He said and Aaron nodded at him before Zayn turned to help Louis stand up. “And you owe me big-time, Tommo.” He said again.

“Sure. Anytime.” Louis mumbled, looking at Aaron again. “Try to get a new number fast. He changes his numbers every five days.”

“Hey!” Zayn exclaimed in response, making the other two chuckle.

“Goodbye, Louis.” Aaron said.

“Goodbye, Aaron.” Louis replied.

“Hey? Um, is it true? I saved you _eight_ times?” Aaron asked, making Louis look back at him.

“I counted. You can, too, since you’re going to be here for some more time.” Louis replied.

“Are you guys done?” Zayn quipped and louis nodded before smiling at Aaron as the two of them walked out.

And for the first time in the last couple of weeks, Louis felt happy and satisfied with the situations. He felt happy to finally be going home. He felt happy he made it through everything. He felt happy he was fine and back to his life. But, most importantly, happy that he had given someone a new life. And he finally understood that it isn’t always the people who are bad, but it is the situations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! So I really didn't know of any other way to end it. Let me know your thoughts! I'd love to knw what you thought of the story!   
> Massive thank you everyone who read it till the end!
> 
> Go and check out my new story if you want!
> 
> AC.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment or leave kudos if you like it!


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